Vacation
by Hydros
Summary: Three months after the Fused Saga, Robin is having an identity crisis: the line between Robin and Dick Grayson is beginning to blur. So what happens when the Titans make Robin disappear and send Richard on a week's getaway?
1. Vacation!

-1

"Data log entry: 05. Now recording," A computerized voice monotoned.

"Robin's something else, let me tell you. Some people see him as the Boy Wonder who fought alongside Batman in Gotham City for a time. His main identity now is Robin, leader of the Teen Titans.

Robin's got it all: a huge mansion (It's a giant T. So what?), a girlfriend who's sweet and gentle, yet fierce and dangerous when crossed the wrong way, amazing friends, and even ties to a wealthy superhero.

But that isn't all to Robin. No, citizens don't see Robin's personal life. They didn't see him obsess over the criminal named Slade to the point of blocking his friends out completely, even using a secret identity and attacking them at one point.

No one was there when Robin had sleepless nights, being able to think of nothing but who he was, doubting himself after he was blackmailed by Slade into becoming the villain's apprentice. Did he really enjoy fighting his friends on some level, as Slade had told him his body language had said? Was he a true-blue hero, or was there a side that actually _wanted _to learn from Slade?

Well, I shouldn't say no one. There was one person that was there every time. There was one person there when Robin tuned out his friends. And that person loathed Robin's actions in that situation. That person tried with all their might to stop Robin from creating Red X. That one person helped Robin through the final throes of Slade's disappearance after Terra destroyed him.

That person was me. My name is Richard Grayson, the one most people identify as Robin.

That may have sounded overly dramatic. Probably because I'm tired. Anyway, that's all for this entry."

Robin hit a key on the computer. "Entry: Richard Grayson, 9/21/08, saved." Robin smiled and shut down the computer. He had been keeping an online journal ever since the incident with the Gems. Why? Even he didn't necessarily know. But that night, his mind was focused on thoughts of who he really was. Sometimes, he felt like the line between Richard Grayson and Robin was becoming blurred. He began musing aloud to himself, quietly as to not wake the others.

"I'm not like the others. Everyone else… they don't have to deal with this. Raven has always been who she is; a powerful Azarathian with a half-demon heritage. She doesn't have a different identity. She's half demon, but only her human side shows," He told himself.

"I guess Beast Boy might be able to relate. He isn't Beast Boy, he's Garfield Logan. But even then, his identity isn't nearly as popular as mine. He's never had to ask himself 'Am I Beast Boy or Garfield Logan?'" He cocked his head, wondering if that was true.

"Starfire…" He heard footsteps and froze.

"Having fantasies now? Ooh la la," He turned on the couch, beet red to see Beast Boy's grinning face.

"I-I- What're you doing up?" Robin spluttered, changing the subject. Beast Boy continued to grin.

"_I _am getting a sandwich, at which point I will continue to actually _live _my fantasies with Raven. And get your head out of the gutter," He added as Robin's eyes grew wide. "_My _fantasies involve snuggling up tight and sleeping with the knowledge that I've got a beautiful girl on my arm. Literally. Girl's got a pretty good grip, too. The weekends suck, 'cuz she sleeps in and I can't get out of bed without dragging her with me," He told Robin. Then he smirked.

"Wait. Why did you go so quickly to the conclusion that my dreams are dirty? Guilty conscience? I repeat: Ooh la la," He laughed. Robin was now officially flustered.

"I didn't say that!" Robin hissed.

"Me thinks he doth protest too much," Beast Boy replied. He wasn't about to let it go so quickly.

"You can go to Hell. Maybe you're 'beautiful girl' can get you a ticket," Robin muttered. Beast Boy frowned.

"Touché'," The changeling admitted. Then his eyes got a mischievous glitter. Robin did not like that look. Not at all.

"You know… Raven's waiting for me upstairs. I wonder if I could get her to see your 'fantasies' about our resident alien?" Robin looked in horror as Beast Boy finished his sandwich and ran for the door.

"You wouldn't!" But Beast Boy was already gone. Robin sighed, not particularly concerned. Raven wasn't one to casually go into people's heads that way. _I hope Beast Boy hasn't had that much influence on her…_ He sighed again, returning to his thoughts. Apparently, he returned too far in, because within minutes he had fallen asleep on the common room couch.

"You alright?" He heard a voice call to him, breaking his fog of drowsiness. Groaning, he rolled over so he was face-down. Raven looked at him, cocking her head and wondering why exactly he A) Slept on the couch and B) Slept in. Neither of those were characteristic of the Boy Wonder at all. Smirking, she used the tactic Beast Boy always used on her: the ever powerful poke.

"Ow!" She yelped as he slapped her hand away, only half awake. Now she was annoyed. Apparently, Robin was not one to wake by outside forces. Unfortunately, Raven was not one to be thwarted once she set her mind to a goal. Immoveable object vs. irresistible force. Bending over, she put her face down to his ear. "WAKE UP!" She yelled. Robin simply buried his head under one of the cushions.

Her eyebrows shot up, amazed that he didn't wake up (and possibly get mad). Finally, with an evil grin, she had a solution.

"Robin, Beast Boy slept in Starfire's room last night," She told her teammate. He shot up immediately with a look of horror.

"WHAT?!" He cried. Raven smirked.

"Thought that might do it. I was just joking," She called over her shoulder as she exited through the doors. The full realization his Robin that he had actually fallen asleep on the couch. _Odd. Usually I can't sleep anywhere BUT my bed, _He thought. Regardless, he jumped off the couch and made his way to training.

"He just doesn't have his heart in it," Cyborg noted as he watched Robin run the obstacle course. His time was dismal compared to his usual blazing runs, and he had actually gotten hit a couple times. As Raven healed the minor scratches as she usually did during training, she silently agreed. Robin had been out of it all day.

"Robin, are you sure you're okay?" She asked again.

_There we go again. They all call me Robin. Just once…Just once I'd like to be seen as who I am, as Dick Grayson. _"Yeah…I'm alright," He said halfheartedly. As he slouched back in to the Tower, everyone turned to Raven.

"You guys know that I don't barge into people's heads. But…this is warranted," And with that, she assumed a lotus position and began hovering. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" She said it deeper than usual, drawing out the last word and saying it in a far softer tone.

_Alright, Boy Blunder, what seems to be the problem? _She kept her telepathic presence from him, as to not let him know she was invading his mind. She saw memories of old times, with the Titans, and she saw the pain that Robin was still healing from about Drake.

Finally, she found it. A memory of their time in Tokyo.

"_If everybody is looking for Robin, then I can't be Robin anymore," Richard muttered to himself as he picked the lock on his handcuffs. No sooner had he done that then he heard a voice._

"_Give me your money," the voice said, sounding like a stereotypical thug._

_Richard smirked, turned around and easily took the guy down._

_Moments later, Richard Grayson emerged from the alleyway in the man's white trench goat, black pants and sunglasses._

_Ah…Identity crisis. Far more than that though. _She thought. _Damn… Alright, that explains a lot, _And with that, she withdrew herself.

"So?" Starfire asked anxiously. Raven sighed.

"He's doubting who he is," She told them. Looking at their puzzled faces, she sighed. "Okay, the Robin we know is as we see him; leader of the Teen Titans, generally good natured, enjoys martial arts -" She was interrupted by Cyborg.

"Makes puns worse than Beast Boy's," He added. Raven looked annoyed.

"You're not helping. Anyway, he feels as though there's a line between Robin and Richard Grayson. And I can't blame him. Robin's the superhero. Robin's the one with the cool gadgets and traffic light outfit and such. Richard Grayson is the guy inside of it all," She finished.

"So… He feels like he's losing himself in Robin?" Sophia asked.

"Exactly," Rave nodded.

"Well, there's only one way to cure that," Cyborg said. He looked at Beast Boy, and Beast Boy grinned. Raven raised an eyebrow.

"And that is?" She asked warily, not sure she was going to like the answer.

"Make Robin disappear," Beast Boy said simply. Raven was right. She did _not _like the sound of that.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Marylyn was somewhat worried about this whole idea. Starfire was keeping Robin busy at the mall, and while he was gone the others were clearing everything even remotely connected to Robin out of the Tower. Titans

West would take it for safekeeping for the week that Robin was to become history in Jump City.

"He'll feel like a whole new man. He just needs to be Richard for a while instead of a superhero," Cyborg reassured her.

"You know, for once I'm shocked to say that Beast and Cyborg have actually had a good idea together," Sam commented. Raven smirked, and the two Titans frowned.

"Alright, let's see. Capes, check. Eyemasks, check. Green tights, check. Red shirt with badge, check. Boots, check. Hair gel, check. Utility belt, check. Weapons, check. I think that's it," Cyborg said, hauling it all into a box. Raven frowned.

"You just took the hair gel out of spite," She accused. Beast Boy grinned, not responding. She just sighed and shook her head. "Did you get his room secured?" Cyborg nodded.

Not only were they making sure that their leader had no access to Robin, they were making sure that he had no access to the Tower, changing the codes on his room and even the security. The only connection he would have with the Teen Titans was Starfire.

"Alright guys. What's for dinner?" Robin asked as he came back from his outing with Starfire. The instant he entered, he was confronted by his team. "Uh…What's going on?" He wondered.

"Go up to the restroom and put these on," Cyborg commanded him, throwing him the Steel Tigers shirt he had worn when he quit the Titans and a pair of blue jeans. Cyborg also tossed him a pair of sunglasses.

"Why?" Robin asked, suspicious.

"Just do it. We're not pranking you, Raven wouldn't let us even if we wanted too," Beast Boy assured him. Seeing the honest looks on their faces, Robin agreed. As soon as he came back down the stairs with his uniform in hand, it glowed black and zoomed over to Raven.

"What the hell are you doing?" Robin cried. She grinned.

"Sending you on a vacation, Richard," She told him, passing him his hotel information and keycard. She also gave him a suitcase and a debit card. He raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? Vacation? And did you seriously just call me Richard? What's going on here?" Richard issued a rapid series of questions. Sophia smiled.

"We're giving you a Robin-free week. We've packed up your uniforms, weapons, everything tied to Robin, and sent them to an undisclosed location. We've also changed the codes on the Tower's security and on Robin's room. The only bit of connection to us that you'll have is Starfire," She explained. His eyes grew wide behind the glasses.

"Are you…serious?" He croaked. On one hand, he was concerned for the Titans. On the other, his mind screamed in pure joy.

"That's right, dude. For one week, Robin never existed. You're takin' some time off to be Dick Grayson," Beast Boy told hm with a grin. While Richard generally preferred his real name, he'd let it slide for this moment.

"T-t-thank you. Seriously… I need this more than anything right now. I guess I'll see you guys in a week," Dick said with a voice full of gratitude. With that, he turned around and headed for the doors. Then he stopped. "Wait. What if something happens? I mean, I am the leader-"

"No, you aren't. Not until next Friday," Terra cut him off.

"Alright," He said after taking a breath. And with that, he left the Tower towards the Hilton hotel.


	2. It's The Ones You Love

-1

"Richard Grayson, room 213?" Dick smiled, just as he had every other time he identified himself as such instead of Robin. The clerk took his card, scanned it, and nodded.

"Yep. You're clear. And it's suite 213. All the suites are on the third floor," She corrected. He nodded, thanked her, and with that he was off, suitcase in hand.

_This had to have been Raven's doing… She must have noticed my behavior and taken a look around. I hope they'll be alright without me. Wait, I'm not even supposed to be concerning myself with the Teen Titans. C'mon, Rich! This is YOUR week!" _He berated himself as the elevator rose

Suddenly, the elevator gave a lurch, causing Rich to take a tumble. Getting back up, he realized the elevator had somehow stalled. "And just before my floor, too," He muttered. He jumped up, kicked off the wall, and punched through the ceiling of the elevator, coming to a crouching position on top of it.

Reaching down, he grasped his grappling hook. Or rather, he tried and failed to. Realization hit him as he found it missing: He didn't have his utility belt. No grappling hook for him. Sighing, he looked around. He didn't even have his communicator, for cryin' out loud!

Whipping out his cell phone, he tried to remember the Tower's number. Surely one of them could come by and fix the elevator. He was just about to dial when the elevator lurched forward again. As it moved, Rich heard the horrible sound of one of the cables snapping. "Oh, shit," He stated simply.

Sighing, he slumped against one of the walls. "This is just stupid," He said to no one. "Not even a day out of the Tower as a non-superhero and I'm quite possibly going to die. I fight the incarnate of all evil and come out victorious, yet an elevator can beat me. Makes a lot of sense," He sighed again.

What if he didn't make it out of the elevator? What were his last words to the Titans? "So much that I didn't do, that I should have done… Hell, this week will, or should, be Starfire's chance to get to know me as I am for once," He spoke aloud again. He tried the cell phone again, but to no avail.

"Come on… Anyone who's listening. God, Azar, X'hal, I seriously don't care, just don't let this elevator fall," He prayed. He felt rather stupid praying to three different entities, but he was desperate.

When nothing happened, he rolled his eyes. _Whatever. Hopefully the hotel will have realized that this thing is jammed and called the repair man in, _He thought as he looked up at the hole he had made. "C'mon, you piece of crap!" He yelled, mashing buttons. He growled when nothing happened. Then he heard another cable snap.

"Okay, Dick, calm down. The more you move, the faster those things will break," He reasoned, taking a seat on the floor.

"Oh…has something happened to him?" Starfire was worried. She was supposed to meet him at the door of his hotel room, and he was taking an extremely long time to reach his destination. "Maybe he went to eat. I shall check the restaurant area of this building," She decided.

Reaching the food court, she saw no sign of Richard. She did, however, see a variety of enticing items that she simply _must _try. Taking about five minutes to devour a salami sandwich, three slices of cheesecake and an entire bottle of mustard, she left everyone stunned as she exited the room.

"Oooh…I think I may have consumed too much…" She groaned as she made her way back up the stairs to his room. Yes, the stairs. It had never occurred to her that the building might have elevators. Not good for her boyfriend in his current situation.

"Maybe the swimming area? But I feel unable to move… Perhaps I shall wait a few moments," She told herself, taking a seat in front of Richard's door. Then she got an idea. Whipping out her communicator, she dialed it up.

"What's up, Star?" Beast Boy's voice came over the speaker.

"Is there any one way to help relieve oneself of the sick of stomach? I believe you may have experience in this area," She pleaded. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow.

"Er… not really. Why?" He asked.

"I believe I have exceeded my stomach capacity, and am feeling most uncomfortable as a result," Starfire explained. Beast Boy's face instantly lit up in realization.

"OH! You mean THAT kind of sick. Eh, try laying on your stomach. Always seems to help me. And if all else fails, there _are _restrooms in places like those. Any sign of Ro- er, Richard?" He asked.

"No, which is rather worrying me. I am sure he will show soon, though. I will try your suggestions, friend. Thank you!" She chirped before cutting the connection and immediately assuming a position on the floor next to Richard's room on her stomach.

"Man, I bet Starfire's really starting to get worried about me," Richard muttered. He shook his head and just sat, afraid to move in case another cable would break. Closing his eyes, he began to lose himself in thought again.

_Robin would have been out of here by now…He thought._ Then he realized that somehow, in a strange sort of way, he actually liked being stuck in the elevator shaft. It reminded him that he was no longer Robin, no longer the superhero that would have simply used a grappling hook by now.

Oddly enough, he smiled. For now, for the week, he was just an average citizen, a guy prone to Murphy's Law just like everyone else. And it felt good. It felt good not to have his communicator, to not be on constant call to fight. It felt good to not have his weapons, though he did feel somewhat vulnerable simply because he was so used to them.

Feeling his phone vibrate, he picked it up and grinned. Answering it, he put it to his ear. "Hey, Raven," He greeted. Even though he couldn't see her face like he was used to, he could imagine her cocked eyebrow as she wondered why he was calling so soon.

"Uhm, hi. Why are you calling already? And if you say you're checking up on us, I guarantee that you will not like the result," She warned. He laughed.

"Actually, I have a small problem. See, the elevator in the Hilton kind of… well, it's stuck. And I can't get to my floor since I don't have my-"

"You mean, Robin's grappling hook?" She corrected him. He laughed again.

"Yeah, that. So, erm, I need some help getting out of here," He admitted sheepishly. He could hear the others attempting to hold back laughter, and even Raven's voice was straining from the effort.

"Okay, we- we'll be there in a min-min-minute," She managed out, her lips quivering and her cheeks hurting from the teeth that were sank in. Dick frowned.

"You people can't be mature about anything, can you?" He asked. He heard Raven put down the phone and snort, yes, _snort_, before she picked it back up. "You think I didn't hear that?" He demanded.

"I'm sorry. But it's just…just…" She finally lost it and threw the phone to Terra as she buried her face in the couch in an attempt to muffle the uproar.

Dick was not amused. "Terra, just call Starfire and get her to lift this thing up to my floor so we can get the repairmen on it," He told her before cutting the connection. He smiled ruefully. "I guess it is somewhat amusing. Still…" He shook his head and waited. Sure enough minutes later his car began to rise with a lurch as something, or rather someone, connected with the bottom.

"Thanks, Star," He said as she finished setting the elevator car in place. She smiled.

"It is not a problem, Richard. But I do request one favor in return," She said sternly, surprising Dick.

"Really? I mean, what's that?" He stuttered, taken aback.

"If you are to drop your superhero persona for this week, then I demand that you call me by name as well," She told him simply. Dick frowned, confused.

"But 'Starfire' IS your name, isn't it?" He asked. She gave him a look that sent a very clear message.

"You know what I mean, Dick," She told him with a hint of a smile. A look of understanding crossed Dick's face.

"Oh! You want me to call you Koriand'r?" He asked. She beamed and nodded. "Alright, it's settled. For this week, we're Richard Grayson and Koriand'r…erm, what's your last name?" He realized that he had never known this bit of information: He knew that Raven was Rachel Roth, Beast was Garfield Logan, Cyborg was Victor Stone and Terra was Tara Markov, but he had never thought about his girlfriend's name.

"That _is _my last name. On my planet, the apostrophe marks one's bloodline. So 'Koriand'r' is both a first and last name. The 'R' on the end marks my status as Tamaranian royalty," She told him. He nodded.

"Interesting. You know, I realized something while I was in that elevator," He told her, turning to look at her as they reached his room.

"What's that?" She asked, curious.

"Well, being stuck in there without my - well, Robin's - grappling hook annoyed me at first. Then I realized that it was kind of nice, being completely normal and having to wait for the Teen Titans to save _me _for once. Weird as it sounds, on some level I _liked _being helpless. It made me feel…normal," He admitted. Koriand'r nodded, always interested to hear his insights, to learn more about him.

"Well, I guess this is it until tomorrow?" Dick asked. Koriand'r nodded and smiled. Embracing, they gave each other a quick kiss before heading their separate ways. Just as he entered his room, he turned around. "Hey," He caught her attention, causing her to turn back.

"Yes, Dick?" She replied.

"Good night, Kori," He told her before closing his door. She smiled accepting the nickname.

"Good night, Dick. Do not let the insects that reside in the sleeping furniture attack you," She told him, purposely elongating the term.

"A video diary?" Richard picked it up. It was obviously Cyborg's- it looked exactly like his tech. It had a note attached to it.

__

Use this if you want. Maybe record your week so you can watch it the next time you're feeling like you are, or show the video to your Tamaranian kids.

-Cyborg-

Robin blushed and silently cursed Cyborg. Sitting on the hotel bed, he turned the camera on.

"Alright, so tomorrow marks the start of Robin's death. First off, I'd to say to Cyborg," He paused and made an obscene gesture. "Seriously, your kids are gonna be like, cyber-magicians or something. Anyway, I got stuck in the hotel elevator on my way up. Kori- that's my name for Starfire now, show for Koriand'r- had to help me out. I got laughed at by the other Titans," He added with a frown.

"That's about it for today. I'll talk more later, but for now I'm beat," He finished. With that, he reached up and stopped recording.

"I STILL say someone should keep guard, just in case," Terra said. Raven sighed.

"Dick can take care of himself. Besides, he's free of the Titans for a week, remember? He's not supposed to have any interaction with us. He has to find himself again, and if he's still in communication with us, it'll hinder him," She explained.

"I'll do it," Beast Boy spoke suddenly.

All heads turned towards him. "Huh?" The always eloquent Sam said.

"I said, I'll do it. I can keep guard without ever being seen," He said simply. Raven sighed. On one hand, she really just wanted to leave Dick alone. On the other, her boyfriend was right; he could be a just-in-case without being noticed at all.

"Alright…" She finally conceded. Beast Boy smirked.

"Chalk another one up for me!" He said cheerily. Raven frowned. She couldn't let him get _too _cocky about his small victory.

"Oh? How exactly did you win? By volunteering to go keep watch on Richard, who quite possibly sleeps commando?" She asked with a smirk. Beast Boy blanched as everyone else began to laugh.

"I-I-It's not like I'll be LOOKING!" He protested.

"You know, to quote you from last night, 'Me thinks he doth protest too much," Raven put her fingers in the air as quotations, keeping the smirk clear on her face. Beast Boy now went red, not replying. Instead, he simply morphed into a falcon and flew out the door.

"That's just plain evil," Cyborg commented. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Hey, he needed to be knocked down a peg. That just happens to be my specialty," She replied as she left the room.

Beast Boy was now a fly, as insects were the only creatures small enough to go undetected in the room.

_Just stare at the wall,_ He told himself. This was extremely boring, however. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. A very risky, a quite possibly fatal idea. His wings buzzing, he flew down to Dick's sheets. Please GOD be wearing some sort of incriminating underwear or something, He prayed. With that, he morphed into a jellyfish and whipped the sheets up.

Oh, God how he wished jellyfish could laugh. He was, thankfully, wearing pajamas. Pajamas that were emblazoned with the Teen Titans logo, as well as the five original Titans: Himself, Robin, Cyborg, Raven and Starfire. And unfortunately, Starfire was in a _very _bad position. Morphing back to a fly, he zoomed over to the video diary. Grabbing one of the seven DVDs that Richard had, he removed the disc containing Robin's recording and slipped in the new one.

Tiptoeing over, he turned the camera and its light on. Blocking the light with his hand so it revealed only the pajamas, he let the camera record every inch of the pajamas, particularly Starfire. Grinning, he carefully replaced the camera, switched the discs back out, and set his disc on the windowsill. Then he morphed back to fly, eager for morning to come so he could fly off with his blackmail.

He was still imagining what would happen when he got back to the Tower when he saw Dick's room door open. Eyes widening, he zoomed under the bed and went falcon, giving him night vision.

Still, he could not make out details. He saw a figure enter the room and move over to Robin, who had pulled the covers back onto himself. Silently, he went snake and slithered out from under the bed, getting behind the unknown person. Just as the figure bent down, Beast Boy turned into a tiger and, with the lithe grace and silence that came with the jungle cat, knocked the figure over the bed and out the window Beast Boy had opened to fly out of in the morning.

Once in the night air, Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and landed a heavy hit to the person. S/he gave a grunt and tried to swing back, but he turned into a fly to duck. Next he went raptor, scoring a deep bite into the enemy's shoulder, causing him/her to shout in pain. From the voice, Beast Boy decided he was fighting a girl. A girl whose short, shoulder-length hair he had bit into with her shoulder. A girl that was now hissing "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

Beast Boy's eyes widened as he dodged Azarathian energy, morphing into a falcon and catching air. He rose to face his opposition, whom he could see quite clearly now was none other than his girlfriend. In a flash he understood. She had wanted to check not on Richard, but him, to ensure that he wasn't doing exactly what he had been doing.

Raven hovered in the air now, grasping her right shoulder in pain as she healed it. Putting her fingers to her face, she saw her own blood, causing her to glare at who she could now see was he boyfriend.

"Erm…" Beast Boy began.


	3. The Tourist

-1Raven's eyes twitched and her forehead was throbbing. Not to mention her shoulder was still hurting, despite being healed. Zooming straight up to him, she got up in Beast Boy's face. "You BIT me!" She hissed, furious. She demorphed him and held him in the air.

"You're the one sneaking into Dick's room at three in the morning!" He hissed back. She snorted.

"As if it wasn't warranted? I guarantee you have some sort of blackmail on him. So what is it? Did you steal his diary entry? Or maybe you snooped through his stuff? What did I come back for?" She questioned.

"Nothing!" He protested. Seeing the look on her face, he hung his head. "Well, okay, maybe I recorded a little something. It's nothing bad though! Not worth scaring me into attacking you!" He said. Then he saw the blood on her hand and shoulder and gasped.

"Oh God! I'm sorry… Shit, I bit you! I'm so sor-" She clamped a hand over his mouth and held up all five fingers on her bloodied hand.

"First, you did the right thing. Second, you've improved on your transformation. Third, you better not have recorded Richard naked for Starfire. Fourth, you're lucky to be alive. Like I said, you're doing better with your transformations, because that spell you dodged was a paralyzing curse that would have froze you long enough to plummet to your death. And fifth," She ticked off her final finger, "some girls like that kind of stuff," She said with a smirk and twitched her eyebrows up a couple times..

Beast Boy blushed, both in embarrassment from having attacked and viciously injured his girlfriend, and from the idea that she had just given him. "Well, if we're done, I'll just head back up to my post," He said. She flew up with him.

"Give me the disc," She ordered, holding out her hand. "I'm not going to destroy it," She added, seeing him hesitate. Nodding, the changeling handed her the evidence. She shook her head and took off, favoring her shoulder.

"Eurgh…. Five more minutes," Dick murmured as the sun poked through the curtains that blanketed his windows. Sighing, he sat up, blinking a few times to get his vision working correctly.

It felt odd, not putting on his mask, cape, belt or anything else of his usual outfit. Instead, he was wearing khaki shorts and a white plain tee. Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, he smiled. The only grievance he had was the confiscation of his hair gel. _No doubt Beast Boy's handiwork, _He thought darkly. "Alright, what should I do today…" He tried to think of something worthwhile to do with his week, something that he wouldn't get another chance to do for a while.

Then he grinned. He knew exactly what he wanted to do first.

"Ironic that we chose this particular week to host this "Titans Tour" deal," He laughed aloud. Several weeks ago, the historians of Jump City had approached the Titans about allowing tours of Titans Tower for a week. Cyborg jumped at the idea, and so he had coordinated much of the tour itself, making it very interactive.

Dick had always wondered what the Titans looked like through the eyes of the general public. Today, he was going to find out as he paid his five dollars for a tour pass.

The next tour guide turned out to be Raven. "Alright, guys, this wa-" She stopped dead as she saw Dick. "This way. I'll be there momentarily. DON'T touch anything, please," She warned. The rest of the group advanced through the doors, leaving a grinning Richard.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?!" She hissed. Dick looked offended.

"I'm taking the tour! Is this how you treat all of your tourists? Jeez, I figured you Titans would be more hospitable," He said, barely holding back laughter at Raven's face.

"You are retarded. You're already a Titan, you kn-"

"Me? When did I become a Titan? I'm just Dick Grayson, a tourist. It's not like I'm Robin or anything. I, the civilian, just want to get a closer look at how you guys save our city so often," Dick explained, grinning as she rolled her eyes at the Robin comment.

"Alright, fine, _Richard_. You wanna see the Titans from the public view, I can understand that. C'mon," She told him, shaking her head as she hurried to rejoin the tour. Dick trailed behind, laughing the entire way.

"Alright, this is our common room. This is where we watch TV, play video games, and often eat. We also use this as our ops room, which means this is where the crime alarm and crime detection technology is," Raven explained. _Damn him, _She thought as she struggled to keep a straight face. The cause for this struggle was that Richard kept nodding and going "Ohhh," and "Cool!" every so often.

"Alright, any questions before we move on?" She cringed, awaiting the onslaught.

Hand went up, and to Raven's dismay Dick's was among them. She answered questions such as "How does the crime detector work?" and "Can I take one of these controllers home as a souvenir?" (To which she vehemently denied). Finally, she turned to Richard. "Yes?" She asked.

"I was just wondering how often you and Beast Boy make out in here?" Raven's eyes became black fire. _Oh, you are fucking dead, _She thought. She realized she was blushing as she thought of a scathing comeback.

"I-I- That is SO none of your business!" She yelled over the snickers from the other tourists. Dick just smiled and put his hand down, his work here done. Exhaling furiously, she turned her back. "Follow me," She instructed.

"This is our kitchen. Cyborg is currently making lunch for the Titans right now. Cyborg, say hi to everyone," She told him. He turned away from the pan of bacon and waved. His arm quickly froze as he saw Richard. Looking at Raven, she shrugged. Raising an eyebrow, he went back to his cooking.

Raven began to speak again when trouble entered the room in the form of Starfire carrying an armload of alien ingredients. Raven closed her eyes, silently cursing both Dick and Starfire.

"RI-" Starfire was silenced before she could say more. Raven's voice filled her head. _He's on the tour to see us through public eyes. And he's also on the tour to be a jackass, _She added. Starfire nodded and went to work on whatever probably biohazard of a dish she was making.

"This is Starfire, our resident Tamaranian alien. Starfire, these are our latest tourists," Raven said. Starfire looked up.

"Hello, tourist guests! I welcome you to our home," She said cheerily as she began pouring some sort of gelatin into a bowl. Gelatin that had eyes. Raven shivered and turned back to the crowd.

"This area pretty much describes itself. It's where we cook, eat, and occasionally battle out-of-date food," She added as a joke. Everyone laughed, and Dick raised a hand. Raven ignored it as people explored the kitchen, Cyborg keeping a careful eye out as to ensure their safety from Starfire's… thing.

Finally, it came time for questions, and only Dick's hand rose. "Yes?" She asked warily.

"Is there any chance we could have a sample taste of Starfire's dish over there? It looks awesome," Raven's eyes widened. _What's he trying to do, poison the city?! _She thought, bewildered. Starfire's eyes lit up.

"Of course! Everyone line up," Starfire told them happily as Dick and the nine other members stood together. Delighted, she handed a plate out to each of them as Raven watched in horror and Cyborg hid his snickering.

"Wait, where's your piece?" Dick asked Raven. Her expression went from horror to murder as Starfire handed her a plate as well. "Bottoms up," Dick suggested. He waited for everyone, including Raven who couldn't out of eating, to down their piece before sneakily slipping his into the nearby oven.

Raven shook visibly as the god-awful taste spread through her mouth like wildfire. She gave a forced, polite smile to Starfire and grit her teeth. Ideas for vengeance were already running through her head as she motioned for the tour to continue, narrowing her eyes at her former teammate. _Oh, you'll get yours, _ She thought to herself.

"This is our training area. Here, we run through various obstacle courses in order to keep ourselves sharp and battle-ready. Of course, some of us are more zealous about training than others," She added with a pointed look at Dick, who just smiled. "Questions?" She asked.

After answering questions about how the courses worked, what was the fastest time, etc., she came to Dick. "For you?" She asked far too sweetly.

"Could we get a demonstration?" Raven's face lit up. _Bad move, Boy Wonder, _she thought evilly.

"Sure. Stand over here, and get ready," She told him. His eyes widened, realizing that she had turned the tables on him. He nodded and took his familiar place. _I can't do TOO well here, or else these people will wonder, _He thought. The buzzer went off, and Dick instantly went for a bo staff that wasn't there. He looked at Raven, and Raven smirked.

Laser cannons emerged from the ground as Dick tried to figure out a solution. Then he got an idea. "I can't do this, it'll be an insurance risk," He said. Raven's face fell, unable to argue. _Damn, _She thought as she turned the course off. Dick rejoined the group, looking happy with himself.

"Alright, lets-" She began.

"Wait!" An old, balding man stopped her. Raising an eyebrow, she turned around. "We haven't gotten a demonstration yet!" He protested. Raven gave Dick her patented Glare Of Death and sighed.

"True. Alright guys, pay attention, because I'm only doing this once," She told them. And with that, she ran the course in record time. Rejoining the tour, she looked smugly at Richard before continuing onward.

"This is floor two, where three of our rooms are. Here, to the right, is my room. This, I'm afraid, is one place we can't explore here," She told them. As she expected, Dick stopped her short. Man, he was being a pain in the ass.

"Why can't we go in? The papers all said that your powers aren't wacky now," He reminded her. Raven shook her head.

"Fine. Come on," She said, keying in her code. After some simple explanation had been given, she expected her former leader to come up with some craptacular asshat question. To her surprise, none came. Rather, he was looking around as though seeing the place for the first time, despite having been in it in a number of circumstances.

She watched him with a careful eye as he picked up a picture of the Titans that she kept on her bedside desk. He seemed to study it as though he would be quizzed with his life at stake on it later, his eyes practically glued to it.

_So… This is how it is? _He thought as he looked down at the picture. He saw how Robin smiled like a dork, one arm around his girlfriend and the other attempting to strangle Beast Boy for a reason he had forgotten. _That's not me… is it? _He questioned himself yet again as he stared at Robin.

A terrible thought began to make itself known in his head as they progressed into Beast Boy's room. What if his friends, the ones he thought he was so close to, never actually knew a thing about him? Were they simply friends, family even with Robin? Or was there, as he hoped, a deeper understanding, a deeper relationship than that?

_I know that Starfire likes me as Richard. But what about the others? Does Raven see me as Richard Grayson or as Robin? I hope she sees me for who I am after that trip she took in my head…_

_And what about the other three? Do Cyborg, Beast Boy and Terra see past the mask? Can they? If they love Robin, then what happens to me when Robin goes away? _Dick was troubled as he listened absentmindedly to Raven crack a joke about her boyfriend.

Suddenly, he saw it: his uniform. Beast Boy had, apparently, forgotten to give his Robin outfit back from the time that they had all dressed up and impersonated him. Slowly, he walked over to the closet and held the clothing up by the shoulders, running it through his hands.

_Is this me? Is this who I am? Who I'm supposed to be? _He was so lost in his ponderings that he didn't even notice Raven leaving until she came back for him.

Raven's eyes widened as she walked in, finding Richard with Robin's uniform in his hands. "Dick! Come on, we said Robin died for a week, remember? This is a week to discover yourself, and you're not going to do that by looking at Robin," She said gently.

He looked up at her from his sitting position on the changeling's bed. "Aren't I? I mean… this is me to everyone but myself," He said, holding up the cape and shirt. Raven smiled.

"Don't be so sure, Dick. Starfire's been whining about the mask/sunglasses/whatever you can find to hide your eyes with for ages. And as for the others… well, I can't speak for them, but I myself barely remember to call you Robin," She informed him with a smile.

Waving her hand, she left the room, leaving Dick almost more confused than he was already as he followed.


	4. Past The Mask

-1

"This is Cyborg's room. It's full of hi-tech equipment built from his own circuits, so I ask that you please keep your hands to yourself," She said kindly. Everyone nodded and began to look around. Raven eyes were trained on Richard as he looked around as if judging the room. She saw him go over to a picture that showed himself and Cyborg, having just gotten done playing football. Cyborg was ruffling Robin's hair, and both of them had huge grins on.

"Always Robin," He murmured. In all of the pictures that the Titans had, it was Robin. Was Dick really ever there? Had Dick died the moment Bruce Wayne presented him with the mask and outfit? "Always Robin," He repeated, unaware that Raven was watching him intently with her head cocked.

Dick rubbed his forehead as he rejoined the tour group. "Next, we're headed for the third floor. This is where the remaining three original Titans reside. Hesitantly, she stepped forward in front of Robin's room. "This is Robin's room," She said as she keyed in the code and the door swished open.

Dick looked hard at the doorway, staring into Robin's room before shaking his head. Raven gave a small nod of understanding and left him standing in the hall as she filed in behind the tourists.

"Robin?" Richard's head lifted as he heard Raven's voice, or at least one similar to it. It turned out that, over time, the individual former emotions had developed certain traits that physically further divided themselves from Raven. This particular voice was somewhat softer and delicate, belonging to Marylyn, formerly known as Timid.

Dick felt a lump form in his throat. Even without his outfit his friends couldn't see him for who he was. Smiling weakly, he looked up to see the purple haired girl looking at him questioningly. "Hey," He said, a sad tinge in his voice.

"Robin, why are you here? And what's wrong?" Mary closed the distance between the two, putting her arm around his shoulder. Dick looked her in the eye.

"Who am I?" He practically pleaded. Mary was taken aback as she looked down at her friend, concerned.

"What do you mean? Are you an amnesiac or something?" She asked. Then understanding dawned on her. "Oh…" She trailed off. Richard looked down at his feet to hide the tears that were forming. Smiling softly, she took him by the shoulders and raised him up so that they were eye to eye again.

"Listen to me. You are, have been, and will be 'till you take the ol' dirt nap, Richard Mark Grayson. You will _never _be anything more or less than that," She told him. Robin's lip quivered.

"You…think so?" He asked, sounding like a child seeking reassurance and approval.

"Positive," She said simply, having no need to elaborate further. With that, she hugged him tight and walked away, leaving him bright-eyed.

Raven smiled. She had long since allowed Starfire to take over the tour, and had been watching Mary converse with Richard. She shook her head, realizing again just how different her sisters had become since their release. Sam was a strict tomboy, Sophia was extremely quiet and was often seen in the common room reading a book, something that Raven had been prone to before being introduced to video games.

Marylyn, evidently, had taken on a very maternal nature, similar to Starfire's innate ability to sense trouble in a person. Raven stepped out and closed Robin's door, getting Dick's attention as she locked it.

"Feeling better?" She asked. Richard looked at her, confused.

"Er…where'd the tour go?" He asked. "And yes, actually. Mary's a real gem," He added. Raven smiled.

"Starfire took over the tour. Anyway, I think you've had enough of the Tower for a day. I know you and Kori have plans for tonight, and you'd be a fool to be late," She said. Then she narrowed her eyes. "But don't think that I've forgotten about that crap in the common room through this little fluffy moment. Watch your back, Dick," She warned as the two of them took the elevator down to the first floor.

"I'll remember that," He replied with a grin as they stepped out.

"Alright, diary. It's 4 PM, and I have an hour before I join Kori for dinner. I've taken the Titans tour, and had some questions answered and some answers questioned. I know how Raven feels about me now. I've never questioned Kori's relationship with me- she sees me for who I am, I'm sure of it. I still don't know about Beast Boy, Terra and Cyborg, but I hope to find out.

I used to think that I was a hero and nothing more. Tokyo changed that, but I'm only one day into this 'Robin free' week, and I'm starting to feel as though I'm out of place. Something just doesn't _feel _right. It may be just because I've not had a life outside of Robin for so long, but only time will answer that.

Also, note to self: Watch my back when I come out of this week. I know Raven's got some sort of plan in the works to wreak her vengeance on me for the jokes I made on the tour," Here he grinned. "It'll probably hurt and/or humiliate me, but oh well, it was worth it.

Anyway, I'll update later," And with that, Richard turned the camera off. "Well, better get ready," He told himself. Opening the suitcase the Titans had given him, he picked out the nicest pair of jeans that were within, and wore a plain black shirt with them. He checked himself in the mirror mounted on the bathroom wall and liked what he saw.

Next, he endured a bit of cologne. He, personally, hated the stuff, but Kori seemed to enjoy the scent. Therefore, Robin pinched his nose as he walked through the cloud of musk, coughing slightly.

Finally, he found himself staring into his own face. _Should I…? _He contemplated what to do for several minutes before reaching up hesitantly. Then he remembered Kori's words.

"_If you are to drop your superhero persona for this week, then I demand that you call me by name as well," _

"Yeah… I guess so," He said. With that, he whipped his sunglasses off, revealing his eyes. "Robin covered his eyes at all times. If I'm not Robin, I won't cover mine," He decided.

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"Oh, wow," Richard said to himself as he caught sight of Koriand'r outside of the Titans' usual pizza parlor. She, too, was dressed in semi-casual clothes, with a blue T-shirt on and long blue jeans. She wore her hair in a ponytail, which caught Richard's attention even more. Finally getting a grip, he waved to get catch her eye.

She smiled as she turned, seeing her boyfriend. Moving as quickly as possible without sending anyone flying, she made her way over and hugged him relatively lightly, as opposed to her usual death grip.

"Hello, Richard," She said once she let go. Then she noticed, with a start, that he had made no attempt to shield his bright blue eyes from her. She gave a small gasp.

"Richard…" She whispered.

"I decided that if I'm not Robin, I'm not hiding my eyes like Robin does," He said with a smile. "And Cyborg, go ahead and get a good, long look," He added, pointing at a nearby bush. He heard swearing, but the bush remained otherwise silent.

"Richard? Why do you refer to that fern as our friend?" She asked. Dick smirked.

"For one thing, it's a hologram. That bush wasn't there when I walked by this morning. Not to mention I can see the projector," He added, jabbing his thumb at a small device attached to one of the pillars surrounding the doorway. He heard more swearing and laughed as Kori frowned.

"Don't worry, Kori. I knew they'd spy on us one way or the other. Come on," He said, leading her in to the parlor.

"_See_! I TOLD you we should've just used your hand as a camera!" Beast Boy hissed at his partner in crime as the bush disappeared, revealing the half-man.

"Oh, shut up," Cyborg replied shortly.

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Kori couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from his blue ones, not even to look at the menu. "You do not know how much this means to me," She whispered. Richard smiled.

"Probably not. Are eyes something particularly special to you?" He asked. Still in a trance of sorts, she took her time replying.

"Yes, Richard," She said finally. "On my planet, our eyes are like…" Kori was silent, struggling to find a good analogy. "Our eyes express emotion far more than anything else on my planet. Tamaranians can tell at a glance how others are feeling simply by looking into their eyes, Richard," She explained.

Richard nodded. "So that's why you don't like me covering my eyes?" He asked.

"Precisely. Without your eyes, I must rely only on what _you _wish to share with me- which is often not much when you truly need help," She added with a small smile. Robin also smiled, knowing full well that there was no argument to be made. He _did _tend to shut others out when he had personal or emotional problems.

Richard looked down at his menu, trying to think of other conversation topics. And finally, forced to, Kori managed to avert her eyes from his. Realizing that he was struggling to find something to say, she tried to hide a smile. _The boy just _not _know how to make small talk, _She thought with a sigh.

Richard looked up and saw Kori smiling. "What's so funny?" He asked, genuinely amused.

She giggled slightly. "Just you. You and your lack of ability in the way of small talk," She told him. Richard mock-frowned and began to respond when _she _walked in.

"Oh, shit," Richard muttered, lowering his head. Kori looked confused.

"What?" She asked, looking over her shoulder and meeting the object of his gaze. And like Richard, she swore, which reminded Richard to kill Beast Boy when this week was done.

"Ooooh! I didn't expect to see you here, Robbie Poo!" Dick winced at Kitten's familiar harpy screech. Then she noticed Kori. "Oh, it's the boyfriend-stealer herself. Back off!" Kitten said, and with that she made the mistake of trying to push Koriand'r, Warrior Princess of Tamaran off of her chair and away from her boyfriend.

Robin winced and looked away, hearing the cries, yelps, and furious screams of a severe Tamaranian-style one-sided catfight. "Bad move, Kitten," He muttered. Finally, with one mighty heave, Kitten went sailing our through the open door, headed for who knows where.

"Well…that was a conversation starter," Dick commented. Kori smiled, that sweet smile that would make you very skeptical about her ability to perform the violent act that she had just done without being witness.

"I apologize…I simply cannot stand that…that…I believe the word is 'whore'?" Dick blushed and he had to struggle not to laugh.

"Let me guess. Beast Boy taught you that?" He asked. Kori nodded, then frowned as if realizing that she had trusted Beast Boy's teaching in language.

"I have said another inappropriate word, haven't I?" She asked grumpily. He nodded. "That boy… I swear," She said, sounding much like a mother referring to a troublesome child.

The waitress came along, and they ordered their various meals. Kori had, for once, ordered something normal- a sausage and pepperoni personal-pan. Dick's eyebrows raised. "Found a particular liking for Earth food now?" He queried.

"Well…" She began. She sounded quite embarrassed. "It actually started when Cyborg was enacting revenge on Beast Boy for some or another prank that he was the victim of. He asked me to consume a three-meat pizza directly in front of Beast Boy. I did so, and, well, I loved it," She finished sheepishly.

Richard grinned. "Wow. Holy crap, that was fast!" He exclaimed. Their food was already coming their way. "That was quick," He told the waitress. She smiled and nodded, with a polite "Thanks!".

They ate is the Tamaranian sense of silence- meaning that Starfire devoured her pizza in a flurry of sausage, cheese and tomato sauce while Richard managed to take out half of his in the same amount of time. When Starfire had finished, Dick took one look at her and burst out laughing. A piece of pepperoni had stuck to her forehead, looking oddly similar to Raven's gem, and sauce had spread in a wide radius outwards from her mouth.

"Napkin?" He suggested. Smiling, she took it from him and vigorously rubbed her face, then proceeded to repeat the process with five others before she was completely spotless. Richard grinned and gave her the A-Ok sign, and they both stood to leave after leaving a tip.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So… I'm not trying to get back into the Titan life, but, err…" Dick trailed off as Kori and himself walked together through Jump City National Park. Kori cocked her head and awaited his next words.

"Who does everyone see?" He asked suddenly.

"I am not sure I understand the question. Might you elaborate?" Kori asked, confused.

"I know you can see past Robin, and that you love me as Richard Grayson. I know from talking to both Raven and Mary that Raven, as well as her various other 'sides', see past the mask. But… what about the others? Who do they see?" He asked.

"Richard, I am not the one to answer such questions. Answers to those questions will come only by truly confronting the question," She answered quietly and enigmatically. Richard looked thoughtful.

"I guess so. I just feel…strange. On one hand, I've slipped surprisingly easy out of my leadership role. I haven't tried to check up on your guys, haven't tried to sneak into the Tower, anything. On the other hand, I feel like I'm living someone else's life when I'm out and about without the Robin persona," He said. Koriand'r listened intently, and when he was finished she smiled softly.

"Then perhaps you need not to focus on being Richard Grayson. Maybe there is another angle that you do not see," She told him. Robin nodded, pretending to understand yet confused at her words.

Exiting the park, they made their way to the hotel. "Well…this is it. Goodnight, Kori," He said. With that, he kissed her and walked into the hotel, waving as he disappeared from view behind the doors.

"Goodnight…" Koriand'r said quietly.


	5. Richard Must Die

-1

"Alright, so it's Saturday, the end of day two. After the tour ended, I ate with Kori at our previously arranged time and place. And man, did she look beautiful. Anyway, I started running out of subject matter, until Kitten showed up. After a short catfight, Kitten learned never to push and/or otherwise assault a Tamaranian if you aren't prepared to fight. Especially when they're with their significant other.

Kori gave me something to think about. She mentioned something about a 'different angle' after I told her my concerns about the way I feel. I'm unsure as to her meaning, but I'll try hard to find it.

Oh, and Cyborg spied on Kori and I, capturing my eyes on film. Oh well," Richard reached up and halted the recording. Another angle… "What is she talking about? There's two perspectives to look at. One is Robin, the other is Richard. What am I not seeing?" He laid down on his back, losing himself in his thoughts.

Again, he went so deep that he fell asleep. As he awoke, he pondered what he wanted to do. He didn't have anything planned with Kori. He wanted so badly to get into the Tower and get a glimpse of Beast Boy, Cyborg and Terra to see how they were getting along without him. Were they even thinking about him?

Come to think of it, he really _did _wonder how the Titans were acting while he was away. Did his lack of presence affect they way they went about their day? If so, was it because he was their leader, or did they truly miss him as a friend?

It all came back to that question. Which one did they see, did they love, did they associate him with? Did they simply latch on to an alter ego, the one named Robin who was not truly who he was? His mind receded into memory.

"_Ex-Doom Patrol member Beast Boy reporting for duty!' Beast Boy stood at attention. Then he gave a start._

"_Wowzers! You're Robin, aren't you sir?" He asked eagerly._

"Of course. He called me by Robin because of my clothes. He didn't know what my real name even was at the time, though," Richard mused.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mmm…" Dick's stomach growled as he walked along the streets of Jump City, one eye out for anything that might help his cause. And currently, his eye was set firmly on a McDonald's.

Once inside, he began to eyeball the menu. Making his decision, he ordered a chicken sandwich meal. Swiping his card, he walked away to find a seat. He was almost sat down when he heard "Hey!". He jumped, lost his drink, and caught it again before it spilled.

Setting the drink down, he turned around. He didn't particularly recognize the girl standing in front of him. She was about his height, with a somewhat pale complexion and eyes that would remind one of a tiger. Her pink hair hung loosely over her shoulders, and she wore a purple tank top with black pants.

She grinned. "You don't have the vaguest clue who I am, do you?" She asked. She looked and sounded familiar, but Richard couldn't put a finger on it. She rolled her eyes. "Does this help?" She asked. With that, she grabbed her hair and yanked it up into two points.

"Jinx?" Richard said.

"Dur. Who else do you know that has pale skin and pink hair?" She asked, sitting down across from him.

He grinned. "Raven on April Fool's Day," He shot back.

"Touché'" The sorceress replied. "Oh, and by the way, it's Jennifer," She added. Dick cocked his head to the side.

"Huh?" Elegantly put.

"My name. It's Jennifer, _Richard_. Raven told me what's been going on," She told him. Dick nodded.

"Yeah…It's hard, you know? It feels like I'm living some sort of separate life right now, something fake. But this is who I am. It feels fake, being Dick Grayson," He said. It was her turn to nod now.

"Did you ever consider that maybe you're looking from this the wrong way?" She asked. Robin gave a slightly annoyed sigh.

"Kori said the same thing, and I'm still trying to figure out what she meant," He told her. Jen smiled.

"Heh. What I mean is, maybe you should be a little more open minded. What was so bad about Robin?" She asked.

"Nothing, really. But I'm not Robin. That's what I'm saying, what I see. I'm Richard Grayson, not Robin. And here lately, I feel like I've lost myself in Robin," He replied, looking down at the table.

She reached across and took his hand, surprising Richard. "Who you are is not a name, Richard. The cape, the mask, the costume, that doesn't make you out as Robin or as Richard Grayson. I think," She said, looking into his eyes, "that you're drawing a line that's not supposed to be there."

"What're you saying? That I should just forget about who I am, who I was?" Richard was actually slightly appalled at the thought. She looked him hard, as if seeing into his very soul. It made Richard nervous, the way she looked into his uncovered eyes with a blank expression.

"You still don't get it, do you? Richard, listen to me. You _are _Robin. You were Robin from the day you accepted the title from Batman, and always will be as you carry the weight and responsibility of being a hero. You can't separate Robin from Richard Grayson without erasing Robin," She finished.

"You're wrong… My name, who I am, that does NOT fall under someone named Robin! Those belong to me! Richard Grayson!" Richard was angry, thought to a minor extent. Jinx was sitting here, to his face, telling him that he should just forget who he was!

Jinx cocked her head. "I never said they didn't." And with that, she stood up. "See ya… Robin," She called over her shoulder. Richard growled. This was supposed to be _his _week. He didn't want to hear that…that _label _as long as the week lasted!

He fumed as he left. He. Was. Not. Robin. He wasn't! And amidst these thoughts, something else rose.

"_Me thinks he doth protest too much"_

He stopped, dead still on the sidewalk. Why had _that _came to the surface? That had nothing to do with…. Yes it did. Richard knew, no matter how much he didn't want to hear it, that that tiny statement had everything to do with his situation.

His lip quivered as a tear dropped. Was it true? Had he truly lost himself? Was he no longer the person he once was? Everything he was, everything he thought he knew… was it not his, but what he had become?

Was Kori truly not his, but Robin's?

"So it's not Robin that needs rid of… It's this…" He whispered, looking at himself in the reflection of a window. He swallowed hard. Kori was worth the world and everything in it to him. And if keeping her meant destroying who and what he once was, he'd do it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Y'know, this isn't so bad." Drake grinned as he held a sword at the ready. War grinned back.

"Heh. And you said you wouldn't have anything to do," War laughed and shook his head before he thrust forward, blocked by a neat parry. "You're getting pretty good," The Horseman commented.

"Thanks. Well, I think I'm about ready to hang up the sword for the moment," Drake replied. War nodded and sheathed his blade, and together they walked from the sparring room of the Horseman's palace into the living room.

"You know, I think I'm gonna check up on my friends," Drake said with a smile. He plopped himself down onto one of the couches next to Conquest and grabbed the TV remote. Switching channels, he flipped between each of the Titans.

"Beast Boy, I would not recommend throwing that," Drake laughed at Terra's response to being faced with a Stankball. Beast Boy threw it anyway, and therefore was chased out the window by the geokinetic.

He flipped channels from them to Cyborg, then to Raven, then Starfire, and finally he checked up on the Boy Wonder.

"So it's not Robin I need to get rid of… It's this…"

"Huh?" Drake peered closely at the TV. What was going on? Frowning, he rewound. He loved Heaven's TV network; it allowed him to rewind through and see what was going on in his friend's lives. He hit play right before the Titans sent Robin on his vacation.

"Ah. In which case…" Drake continued to watch as Richard went through the days, talking to Starfire, Raven, Mary and Jinx. All raised valid points. Then Drake understood.

"Aw, hell. Man, he takes himself way too fucking seriously sometimes," Drake muttered. He turned to Conquest. "Conks, is there any way that I could go down there, if even for just a while? He's got the wrong idea, and he needs someone he can relate to."

Conquest frowned slightly at the use of the nickname that he disliked just much as Raven hated the name "Rae". The frown turned into a look of deep thought. "Hm…You wish for mortality again?" He clarified. Drake nodded. "You died in a very honorable way, saving the life of a loved one. There is no way to allow you to be mortal for 'a while'," Conquest told him.

"Translation: If I go back down, I'm there to stay until I die again?" Drake said bluntly. Conquest nodded.

"Therefore, you are presented with the choice. You can, if you wish, relinquish the comforts of peace and relaxation in this sacred realm in order to help a friend in need. The choice is yours, and yours alone," Conquest said. He was surprised at the abrupt speed of Drake's answer.

"I want to go," He said simply. Conquest nodded.

"Alright, it will work like this: I will exhume you, clean you up, etc. etc.. When I am done, I will transfer your soul and spirit as one down to the Earth to inhabit the body that was yours once more," The Horseman explained. Drake nodded, and he watched on the TV as his rotting body was lifted from the grave.

"Damn. Forget facial, I need a full-body reconstruction," Drake commented. Conquest smiled, and looked to Death, who nodded wordlessly. Instantly, Drake's body began to fill out, reversing the decaying process. When it was fully restored, Conquest turned to Drake.

"This is goodbye for the present, then," He stated. Drake nodded.

"Thank you," Were his last words before he felt as though he was being snapped off of a rubber band.

'YAAAAAHHHH!" He yelled as he hurtled through the heavenly realm and crossed into that of Earth's. And, with a violent start, Drake's eyes snapped open as he lay on the ground, breathing his first molecules of oxygen.

He smiled. It was good to be back. "Alright, now to go find Rich- Oh, man," Drake's happy reunion with his body was interrupted by a voice.

"Alert! Alert! Intruder within 50 feet of Titan's Tower. Defenses activating," He heard a computerized voice say. Indeed, he was in the line of fire of ten different guns.

"Crap."

**NOTE:**

**If you're reading and going "Wait, Drake said 'Fuck' in Heaven?!", basically I believe that profanity is not a set of words. IMO, profanity is when you speak ****badly of or to someone, which I'm pretty sure is in Webster's. Then again, this is all Christianity based stuff, and I'm not going to go into that. Just giving a brief ****explanation so I don't get five billion reviews going "People don't cuss in Heaven!")**

Hope you liked it, and please review :D I know it's been a while since I updated. School and such.


	6. Intervention

-1

"What the hell?" Terra yelped, typing at light speed as she searched for the intruder. Having been elected as team leader for the week, Cyborg had taught her a lot about the alert system, and it didn't take her long to find the subject.

What took a while was believing what she saw.

She punched in the cancel command, and the security retreated back into storage.

"Titans, common room, now!" Terra practically yelled into her communicator.

Once all the Titans had grouped, she did nothing more than point at the screen, where Drake was looking surprised that the security had dropped. Every jaw in the room dropped.

"It can't be…" Raven whispered.

"No way…" Beast Boy said.

"It can't be him… no matter how much we wish it was. He looks similar, but…" Starfire sounded sad.

"Only one way to check," Terra decided.

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"Hey! Who're you?" Terra yelled as she flew towards the intruder on a rock. She leapt off, allowing the rock to crash into bits as she landed in front of him. And choked.

It _was _him. A few things tipped her off to this. First, he was wearing his suit, which he had been buried in. Second, the grave was empty. Third, she could see clearly the scar above his right eye that she alone had noticed.

Terra stood, lost for words, dumbstruck, and Drake couldn't help but smile.

"Well, this ought to go down in history. I can see it now, in the history books: 2008, Tara Markov is speechless," He said with a grin. Now she _knew _it was him.

"But-but-but…HOW?!" She yelled out of sheer frustration. He laughed as the others caught up.

"Look, the resident basket case is getting ready to make a huge mistake if I don't hustle. That's why I'm back. I can make small talk later, but for now I have to find him," He said quickly. Remembering that he had seen a supply of Xenotheum injected into the belt he'd been buried in, he grinned. "Catch ya later." And with that, he was gone.

"He never could just stay in one spot," Raven said with a slight smirk.

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Richard was in bed, contemplating as he had been for the past two night. It was midnight when he was startled from his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" He asked cautiously.

"Take a guess," came the reply. Robin gasped. That voice.. No, that voice _filter_, but it couldn't be!

Which left one explanation. "No…" He whispered. Leaping out of bed, he slowly pulled the door open.

And fainted.

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"Un…..what happened?" Robin asked groggily as he came to. And his vision came into focus, he saw an impossible sight. Drake sat across from him on the bed, grinning.

Robin stared. Drake's grin widened. "I'm back, baby," He said. Robin looked at him like he was some sort of alien species. "Look, I saw you needed help. So, in exchange for the comfort of my secure place in heaven, I came back in all my mortal glory to help you out," He explained.

Robin's jaw dropped. "It's…you, then? You're…back?" Drake sighed.

"It's good to know you understand basic communication," He said dryly.

"Yeah, it's you alright," Robin smiled. Then he frowned. "Wait, what do mean, I needed help?" He asked. Drake smirked.

"I mean, you're being an idiot," He replied, causing Robin to frown again. Drake sighed, deeper this time. "Alright, since you're clearly missing the obvious, I'm going to help you out a bit. But not tonight, it's late. Tomorrow, man," He said. With that, he walked calmly out of the room, headed out for the Tower.

"He never could stay in one place," Robin said to himself.

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Drake walked through the doors at roughly 11 PM. "Hi honey, I'm home!" He said, strolling on through.

The others had waited for him. "You have some major explaining to do," Raven told him. And with that, she leapt up and flung her arms around him, making Starfire's hugs look like reluctant embraces.

"Get…her…off…air…breathing…unable…" Drake choked out. Finally, realizing what she was doing, Raven let go.

"I… Oh, Azar, it's good to see you," Raven said shakily. This scared Drake. Raven was never one to be wobbly-kneed to the point of having to take a seat as she was now. Everyone gave him their various "welcome back" hugs, knuckles, etc. etc.. Terra, though she gave him a high-five, secretly wanted something more. Much more.

_Later… Richard first, love life later, girl, _She scolded herself. "So, what's Richard doing?" She asked, concerned.

Drake shook his head. "He's getting this notion in this head that since Robin only his superhero identity, and you all associate him with Robin, you guys don't care about him. In other words, he's trying to turn Robin into an entirely different person, when in reality it's the other way around," He explained.

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what? You're saying that because we don't refer to him by his real name, we somehow… okay, I've had some fucked up theories before, but this tops them," He said. He frowned when he heard Raven mutter "Got that right," as she recalled the time when her boyfriend had oh-so cleverly deduced that Drake, who at the time they knew only as Red X, was a bionic monkey infused with Robin's DNA.

Drake laughed. "Well, he needs to be shown that Robin and Richard Grayson aren't supposed to be divided, since they're the same person," He explained. Raven nodded.

"And you plan on doing that how?" The empath asked skeptically.

Drake grinned and began to share his plans.

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Richard woke up at 8 AM precisely, and instantly remembered the previous night; Drake's return, his decision to get rid of his former self, everything. He dressed himself and looked in the mirror. "Well, I guess this is good-bye…" He told his reflection.

And to his shock, the reflection smirked. "Is it really?" It asked. Richard's jaw dropped, but he quickly recomposed himself, having seen stranger things.

"Looks like it. Kori loves that," He jerked his thumb at the Robin costume he'd snuck from the Tower, "not you," He said, pointing at the mirror. The reflection shook its head.

"You still don't get it, do you? You don't see the other angle, the thing you truly need to look for? How can you miss it?" Richard growled. Now even his own reflection was yammering about this "other angle"! Seeing Richard's face, the reflection grinned.

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Unbeknownst to the Boy Wonder, Raven floated in her usual position on the rooftop, surrounded by the other Titans. And though Raven's body was being held in that position, Raven was not currently inhabiting it. Rather, she had altered the appearance of her soul-self and gone down for a chat with, as Drake put it, the "resident basket case".

"This was a rather…unique…idea, Drake," Sophia commented, glancing at the grinning. formerly dead, man.

"Thanks, I think," He replied. And with that, everyone turned back to Cyborg, whose chest currently sported a screen in which they could see through the finger-camera he had snuck into Richard's room.

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"Do you truly believe that? Or do you just not want to consider, to think, to realize that you are Robin?" The reflection pressed. Richard's face contorted, and having not talked to Jennifer since she had encountered Raven, she knew not what she had just done.

"I. Do. Not. Want. To. Hear. That. EVER AGAIN!" Richard roared. And with that, he literally shattered the mirror, causing Raven to be thrust painfully back into her body. He seethed, not knowing how or why his reflection had come to life, but he knew that he was _not _going to hear that he had truly lost himself in Robin.

"No…I haven't lost myself in him. I'm losing myself _for _him," He whispered, changing out of his clothes and into his uniform.

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"UNGH!" Raven flew backwards, but Starfire was quick and caught her friend. Raven's eyes shot open, and her breathing was labored. Beast Boy looked horrified.

"What happened?!" He cried as he rushed over. Slowly, as her breathing calmed, she managed to stand, wobbly at first but finally stabilizing.

"He broke the fucking mirror, that's what!!" Raven was furious. Not only had the idiot not gotten the message, he had returned the favor with a great amount of shock and pain. She turned to Drake.

"Any more bright ideas?" She asked.

"Yep." He smirked.

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"This had better work," Raven said. She was currently being fitted with a hologram ring, while Cyborg busily sewed away at a uniform. Beast Boy was off breaking random, semi-valuable things in the Tower, Terra was creating a gravestone and the sisters were with Beast Boy, deciding which objects to victimize. Drake laughed.

"Alright, I'm all done. I used a computer program to age you guys about ten years, and configured holograms for each of you guys, sans Raven's sisters. B, sorry man, but your hairline's gonna start receding if you don't start eating at least _some _meat," He added with a grin. Beast Boy frowned.

"And there's this for Drake," He said, holding up the Nightwing costume that had been designed via Starfire's recollection. Drake grinned as he put it on.

"You done, Terra?" Drake asked. Terra nodded and lifted her work up with her powers. It was an ornate gravestone, which read " R.I.P. Raven Roth, 1988-2009. A Teen Titan, a lost love."

"This is so mean," Sam said as she read the stone after returning with the rest of the wrecking crew Terra then lifted another stone, this one reading "Richard "Robin" Grayson, 1989-2008. May you find peace."

Raven shook her head and silently agreed with her rowdy counterpart. "Is everything ready?" She looked at everyone, and all in the room nodded. Then she smirked. _Humiliate me in public, will you? _She thought, remembering the tour incident. _You deserve this. Oh, Azar knows you deserve this, _She decided.


	7. Back to the Future

Richard felt sad, yet relieved to finally come to a decision, as he made his way across the town en route to Titan's Tower. It didn't take him long to hack into the security and disable it, which seemed odd to him, but he shrugged it off. As he walked in through the door, his jaw dropped.

Starfire sat on the couch, crying into the shoulder of a man unknown to Richard. He snarled as leapt at the man, but fell right _through _him and the couch. Shocked, he leapt back up as he heard words.

"I j-just…I can't believe he did this…" Starfire sobbed. And although she did a magnificent job of acting the part, her lips were quivering on the edge of laughter.

"Shhh… It's alright," Richard's eyes widened as he recognized Drake's voice.

"What the hell?!" He roared. He took another lunge, and again Sam briefly teleported the two actors and the couch from the room with a grin, just long enough to keep Richard from hitting them.

Then he saw Terra's head poke through the doors. "Guys, come on. It's time," She said solemnly. Sniffling, Starfire released Drake, and the two exited the room before Dick could do or say more. Perplexed, he followed them out.

_"Today, we lay to rest two Teen Titans," Drake began, and Robin was shocked at what he saw._

Raven lay in a casket, arms folded across her chest and eyes shut. Her chakra Gem had dulled, and she looked as though she had passed away roughly two days ago, with patches of her hair beginning to fall and her face slightly sunken.

And to her right, roughly five feet away, lay another body: his own. Richard gasped and ran over, but no one seemed to notice.

"We bury Richard Grayson in much turmoil. He died never knowing himself, and for that his friends suffered dearly. Richard was… complicated. He never allowed others into his personal life, and his identity was lost to him because of it.

He was a good leader, and may he find himself on a higher plane," Drake finished. With that, Cyborg and a gorilla gently shut the casket and laid it into the grave, which was then buried. Now buried, Roth slipped off her ring and teleported away from the Tower.

"Next, we bury Rachel "Raven" Roth. Raven was also complicated, and she died as a result of depression and stress, finally taking her own life. She will be dearly missed by all," Drake had to cut himself short because of three things: One, Beast Boy's "crying" was beginning to drown him out. Second, he was afraid of busting out laughing if he opened his mouth again. And finally, in his head, he heard _"Just bury me already, jeez."_

He nodded, and the two pallbearers shut and lowered the other casket, which was then buried. And, like Roth before her, she slipped the ring that gave her the rotting look off and warped out.

"Terra, if you would," Drake said. Barely managing to keep a solemn face, Terra placed the two stones in front of their respective graves. "

"Rest in peace, guys" She whispered before leaving.

Richard, watching the whole thing, was horrified. What the hell was happening?! Then, again he heard Starfire speak to Drake.

"Why… why did he never be himself? He became so… cold… like he wanted to be rid of everything but his Robin persona…" Starfire began to cry again as Richard's face became pale.

"Is this a vision?" He wondered. It felt as though he had stepped into a hellish future. Raven, dead by suicide? And was that really him that they buried? Even worse, it seemed that he had lost Starfire by doing the very thing he thought he had to do in order to keep her!

"What is this, the ghost of Christmas Future?!" He cried.

"In a sense," Richard spun to see Raven standing in magnificent white robes, transparent. Or so it would seem, thanks to Cyborg's ever-handy rings. As a finishing touch, Cyborg had put a slice mark on Raven's neck to signify that she had indeed killed herself.

"R-R-Raven?" The pale boy was terrified.

She looked into his eyes. "Yes, me. Do you see what has happened? The Titans, your family, has become broken and saddened by the actions you plan to commit, Richard," She said in a voice that could make anyone feel ashamed of themselves. Richard was no exception.

"I…but there's no other choice! I'm doing what I have to! Kori…I can't lose her…" Richard trailed off in desperation. Raven's face remained impassive.

"You see what your actions have caused. You died in battle, Robin," and here Richard's lip curled into a slight snarl, "with Brother Blood, because you had given up half of yourself. He easily took you down because you were so focused on trying to be Robin that you lost the experience, the skills, that you once had," She said.

He was silent for a while. "How can I change… this?" He pleaded, gesturing to the gravestones, at Starfire still sobbing into Drake's shoulder, at Cyborg whose face showed none of his usual enthusiasm, at Beast Boy, who was kneeled by Raven's grave in prayer.

Raven still did not smile in the least. "Some things in life are meant to change. Others are not. Changing that which should not be tampered with… it is dangerous. And it can and will result in tragic consequences if you continue," And with that she was gone.

He was left staring at the spot where his fallen comrade had been. He could feel a lump forming in his throat. Then, suddenly, Raven reappeared.

"I have one more thing to show you," She said simply. He followed her out of the common room and up all the way to Starfire's room. Along the way, Richard noticed broken objects laying about, a result of the disrepair the Tower had gotten into.

"It just cannot be this way," He heard his girlfriend say. Silently, Raven picked the poor boy up with her powers and phased him through the door, following closely. What Richard saw scared him worse than any other sight ever had.

Starfire stood looking at herself in her mirror. You would have thought that she was simply trying on new clothes, save for the Birdarang Sword that she had pressed to her neck.

"Perhaps I shall find him…wherever it is I am destined for," She said to herself sadly. And before Richard could yell or move, she made one swift, final movement and backwards, the sword clattering to the floor.

"NO!! NO! KORI!!" Richard found himself paralyzed by some unknown force, perhaps his own terror.

Raven grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. "Is this want you want?" She demanded.

"Of course not!" He yelled. Still she remained calm.

"Then do not fix what is not broken, and do not draw a line where it doesn't belong." And with that, in a blinding flash of light Richard found himself standing in front of Titan's Tower, just outside of the security monitor's range.

"What…?" Richard realized he was breathing heavily. He looked at his gloved hands and ripped said gloves off, as well as his eye mask, cape, and everything else that he could without being arrested for indecent exposure.

And, even more confused than before, he ran from the Tower faster than he had ever ran in his life.

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He was back in the hotel room. He, Richard Grayson, sat there, his face unmoving from the anger and terror that had been put in him by that… whatever it was. Kori and Raven, dead by his own actions? Impossible! That image…Kori, falling backwards with a gash across her throat…no. No way.

"It had to have been some sort of sick freakout or something," He decided. But still, he double-questioned his plan of action. If that was indeed a vision, and he continued still with his intentions…

"Ugh! Why is this so difficult?!" He yelled, partly to himself and partly to whatever deity might be listening. Why couldn't he make up his mind? He was either Robin or Richard, and he wanted to make sure he took up the mantle of whichever one his friends, his family, saw and loved. Especially Kori…

He jumped at the sound of knocking on his door. Turning toward the door, he opened it cautiously, wondering who would be visiting him.

"Oh, hey Ji- I mean, Jennifer," He greeted her. She laughed.

"I don't mind being called 'Jinx', y'know. In fact, I kind've like the name," She said with a smile. Then she rummaged around in her pants pocket, clearly struggling to find something.

"Oh, where the hell did he put it… Ah, there we go!" Robin cocked his head in confusion as Jinx procured a piece of paper out from her right pocket. Seeing Richard's face, she laughed again.

"Look, I didn't tell the other Titans about this. Well, okay, I told Wally, but he's the one that got this," She said, handing him the paper. It was a bus pass, a round-trip to Gotham City. "I figured you might want to go back to Gotham and see Bruce," She explained as he gawked at her.

"But… How the hell'd you know who Bruce was?" He asked, perplexed.

"Weaseled it out of Victor," She grinned. "Oh, and Bruce is expecting a call from you confirming whether or not your going," She added as an afterthought. Now Richard was really astounded.

"How the hell did you contact him?!" He cried. Not many people could contact Bruce Wayne unless he wanted to be contacted. How could Jinx have gotten through?

"It's not hard to find the Batcave if you know what you're looking for, Richard. I about got killed when he first saw me, though. Mistook me for frickin' Catwoman because of my eyes," She said sourly. Richard simply stared.

"O…k…. I'll be going now," She said. And with that, she left the room, leaving a dumbstruck Richard Grayson wondering just how in God's name a once-small-time thief like Jinx could have possibly found the entrance to the Batcave itself.


	8. Nothing Like A Good War

-1"Alright, everyone for Gotham get on out!" Richard did as he was told, taking his suitcase with him. Looking around, he saw some familiar sights and some new ones. He saw the old café that he used to frequent when he needed some time to himself. He saw the old library, which had since been remodeled. And finally, he saw the office towers of Wayne Industries high in the sky.

He quickly made his way to the area he knew the Batcave's entrance was. Pressing the hidden button disguised as a small pebble in the grass, he quickly slipped into the trapdoor before the five-second closing mechanism activated.

Bruce was waiting for him. "Hello, Richard. It's been quite some time," He said with a smile. The two shook hands, and Richard looked around the room.

"You sure have kept up with the times," He commented. Never before had he seen such advanced technology powering Batman's many gadgets, suits, and the Batmobile. Bruce laughed.

"I hear you're keeping quite up to date yourself, what with having Cyborg to keep the Tower in prime technological state," Bruce said. Then his face turned serious. "I also hear you've been having some issues lately," He said.

Richard looked down. "I… here lately, I've started to feel like I've lost what I used to be in this superhero persona that's been created. I just… I don't know, it's weird. You have your own double-life, but that's the thing. You actually live a life as Bruce Wayne. I only live as Robin," He said.

Bruce began to respond when an alarm flashed. The Caped Crusader rushed over to a computer console, looked at the screen, then looked up at Richard with a smile. "Some unknown man is causing trouble uptown. Just once, for old time's sake?" He offered.

Richard was about to refuse, but somehow he found himself accepting. It felt…natural, slipping into costume and hopping into the passenger's seat of the Batmobile. For some reason, he couldn't get a huge grin of anticipation off his face as memories of past outings with his mentor surfaced: Taking down the Joker, stopping Mr. Freeze, even solving the many puzzles of The Riddler.

The Batmobile screeched to a halt in front of an abandoned factory. "This is where he was reported," Batman told his partner. Robin nodded and leapt out of the vehicle, guard up and eager for action. His expression of delight in working with his mentor once more was wiped away by what he saw.

It was Blackfire. Or at least, Blackfire's head and leg, the only things visible under the rubble piled on her. "Blackfire?!" Robin cried..

"You know her?" Batman questioned as the Tamaranian's head turned weakly with a moan.

"She's my girlfriend's sister. She's supposed to be in jail, but…" Robin trailed off as he ran up to the girl.

"Be careful, Dick. She could be feigning," Batman called. Robin nodded as he began to dig rocks and dirt off of Blackfire.

"Un….. Robin?" Blackfire wondered vaguely through a cloud of grogginess. perched precariously on the border of consciousness. Robin made a confirming sort of noise as he continued his work.

"Robin…Tamaran…under..at..a..ck…" Blackfire managed out.

"What?!" Robin yelped as he threw the last bits of rubble off of the girl and lifted her up bridal-style.

"Tamaran… Get St…ar…" And with that, she was out.

Robin's face was all alarm. Batman looked at him, quizzically. "Richard, what's wrong? What's happening?" He probed.

"Tamaran…This girl's and Starfire's home planet. Blackfire said something about it being under attack. She wants me to go get Kori…" Robin looked down at the fainted girl.

"Bruce, we'll have to catch up later. I… I have my own team to go take care of," He explained. Bruce nodded, and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Good luck." And with that, he stepped back into the Batmobile while Robin carefully set Blackfire down and whipped out his communicator.

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"He deserved every minute of it, too," Raven smirked as they all laughed at the poor Boy Wonder.

"Heh. Poor sap never knew what hit him," Sam said, rolling her eyes. Suddenly, the Tower's communication system went off. Cyborg raised an eye and approached the computer, hitting the button to receive the call.

"Hey, what're you calling here for? No Tit-" Robin cut him off.

"No time, Cyborg. I need emergency transport. I've got a knocked-out Blackfire and a vague warning about an attack on Tamaran over here," He said grimly. Starfire gasped, and Raven's eyebrow raised. In the background, the could hear a faint moaning.

"I'm on my way. Where are you?" Raven asked.

"Gotham City. Jinx bought me a bus pass so I could get in touch with Bruce. He got a call, and we went together to check it out- that's why I'm in my uniform. When we got there, we saw Blackfire. Batman's already gone to check out the surrounding area. Go!" Robin ordered. Raven nodded, and with that she turned to Sophia, who nodded. Together, the two girls locked hands and, pooling their powers into one, made the long teleport trip from Jump to Gotham.

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"How is she?" Sophia asked as the pair came into speaking range with Robin.

"She's coming around," He said. He looked expectantly at his fellow Titans, who nodded. Robin grabbed Raven's hand with his own left hand and took Blackfire's hand in his other. Knowledge took Blackfire and Raven's remaining hands and again, together Raven and Sophia melted into the ground, taking the other two with them.

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"Ungh….where am I?" Blackfire tried to sit up, but was pushed gently back down.

"Rest, sister. You are in the medical bay of Titan's Tower," She heard a familiar voice inform her calmingly.

"Kori?" She asked. She blinked as her vision came into focus, and saw that indeed Starfire's face hovered over her own, a look of concern etched into it.

"Yes, sister," She confirmed.

Blackfire heard heavy footfalls and looked at the doors as they opened, revealing Cyborg with a medical chart literally in his arm. "Well, Blackfire, you check out alright. All injuries superficial, no concussion. You feeling good enough to explain what happened?" He asked.

"Ugh. I've felt worse. Then again, I've also felt a hell of a lot better…" She muttered. Then she frowned. "That _chlorbag _was one strong son of a bitch," She added.

"Do you know who it is that attacked you? Or why they attacked?" Cyborg questioned. Blackfire shook her head.

"I have an idea of why he might've attacked me, but I have no idea. His eyes…well, the one I could see, were blood red," She said.

"Why would he try and take you out?" Cyborg pressed.

Blackfire sighed. "When Tamaran goes to war, which is not entirely uncommon, the

Empress is in charge of the Tamaranian forces. In short, Kori should be commanding the Tamaranian militia. But since she was unavailable, they turned to the next in line," She said. Cyborg opened his mouth, but she continued.

"They released me from jail for this purpose. Galfore and I are at an understanding concerning former…incidences, and I have taken up the throne as Empress in order to lead Tamaran in war. I guess this guy figured that if he took me out, the militia would be out a commander. And he's right," She finished.

"You said he only had one eye?" Cyborg asked.

"No idea. I could only see one, but he had some sort of mask on. Kind've vented at the bottom. His clothes looked kind've like mine, with all the metallic stuff," She added.

Starfire growled, a deep, primal noise to rival that of Beast Boy's most powerful forms. "Apparently, this bastard is not to be assumed dead until we recover a body!" She snarled, furious. Cyborg was shocked. He had never seen his friend so…vehement about something.

"Star, you gotta stop letting Beast Boy teach you-"

"Beast Boy did not teach me that particular term," She said before storming out of the room.

Blackfire chuckled, and Cyborg turned back to face her. "What the hell was THAT all about?" He wondered.

Blackfire smirked. "Starfire's naïve nature only extends to Earthen culture. Before she came to Earth, she was a warrior princess, and a damn good one. And if you hurt someone or something close to her like Tamaran… Raven's version of fury pales next to my sister's," She said with a laugh.

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"Richard, it's me," Richard was back in street clothes, and was startled out of his thoughts by Beast Boy's voice outside his door.

"Make yourself at home," Richard said dryly as the changeling strode in, fixing the Boy Wonder with a hard look.

"Richard, you've had a couple days to gather your thoughts. It supposed to be a week, but you've got to get it together now. We're about to jump into a war here, man. We need a leader that's confident in himself, not one who's going through an identity crisis. Have you sorted things out?" The changeling asked, no humor in his voice.

"I…I don't know. I mean, everything seems to be pointing to the conclusion that I am Robin, but…" This was, evidently, the wrong thing to say, judging from Beast Boy's face.

"God damnit Richard! How many hints do we have to drop for you to get it through your spiky head?!" Beast Boy was almost yelling. Robin jumped, shocked. He opened his mouth, but Beast Boy talked over him.

"You are BOTH, Richard! Robin and Richard, Richard and Robin, they're the same damn person! You can't separate the two. You can't say you're only one or the other. You're both, no matter what you call yourself. It doesn't matter! Call yourself Robin, call yourself Richard, whichever, they're just two names for the same person!" Beast Boy's words were hitting home with the Boy Wonder, whose face was passive now.

"So… I haven't lost myself in Robin, because Robin isn't a different identity… which means…" A smile spread across Richard's face, and Beast Boy's face slowly mimicked the expression.

"Excuse me," Richard said. Beast Boy smirked and left the room.

_Bam! _On with the green tights! _Wham! _Here comes the red vest! _Swoosh! _Enter the cape! _Boom! Boom! _On go the steel-toed boots! _Click! _Utility belt, check! _Snap! Snap! _Green gloves at the ready! _Crack! _Nuts meeting that workout bench at twelve o'clock! "OW!" Yes, the Boy Blunder was back in all his currently bent over in pain glory.

Beast Boy was still laughing as he helped Robin up. "Hell of an entrance," He said as Robin stood up straight.

"Oh, shut up," The teen hero told his friend good-naturedly.

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"Well, look who's back," Raven said with a smirk as Robin walked into the common room, where the others had gathered.

Robin smiled. "So, what's our situation?" He asked. Cyborg sighed.

"As far as I can tell, Blackfire was attacked by a red-eyed Slade because Blackfire is the leader of the Tamaranian militia," He said. Robin's jaw dropped.

"Slade?! But…he died! Those Gems took him out!" He protested. Cyborg shrugged.

"Well, to quote Star, 'this bastard is not to be assumed dead until we recover a body'," He responded. Robin's eyebrows shot up.

"_Kori _said that?" He questioned. Starfire nodded, and Robin wondered what happened to the innocent alien that he had once known.

"So… who exactly is attacking Tamaran?" Robin wondered. Blackfire shook her head.

"I've never seen or heard of them before. When they first attacked, I heard them say something about some place called 'Azerth' or something. I can't remember exactly," She said. All eyes turned to Raven, her shocked face reflecting theirs.

"It wasn't 'Azarath' that they said, right?" Raven asked shakily.

"Raven, Azarath has no rational reason to attack Tamaran," Sophia told her.

"Erm…actually, I'm pretty sure that's what I heard. They absolutely decimated our initial defenses. Right now they're working on the perimeter of _Offrar_," Blackfire said. Starfire gasped.

"Is this place important?" Cyborg asked. Starfire nodded.

"That city is the equivalent of your New York City and Washington D.C combined," She said gravely. Cyborg let out a low whistle.

A city of that importance being destroyed would have a devastating impact on Tamaran, and if Azarath dealt such a blow…

"Why the hell would Azarath suddenly decide to slam Tamaran, though? I mean, it's not even planet vs. planet. Azarath is an entirely different dimension! What purpose would a war against Tamaran have?" Sam wondered aloud.

"As to that, I have no idea," Blackfire admitted.

"Cyborg, ready the T-Ship. We're headed for Tamaran," Robin decided.


	9. Do a Barrel Roll!

-1

"Alright, entering Tamaranian airspace in five," Robin said through the intercom of the T-Ship and, consequently, the Nevermore Rocker that the various "emotions" had modified to allow them to travel with the Titans. Blackfire was keeping alongside the T-Ship, thanks to her ability to breathe in space. God, it felt good to be back with his friends. But sadly, he didn't have long to think on that, as his radar began to blink.

"Rob, we have multiple contacts closing fast!" _What is this, Star Wars? _Robin rolled his eyes as Cyborg's voice came over the speaker. Indeed, they had seven different unidentified ships surrounding them.

"Those are Azarathian forces!" Raven recognized with anger. "Wait…only four of those are Azarathian. What the hell… who are those guys?" She wondered as she spotted another craft that was unfamiliar to her. In fact, the only reason she had known the Azarathian forces was due to the words "Azarath Sengona Lioan", which translated into "Long Live Azarath".

Beast Boy was trying to get a better look at the fighters when he saw a sight worse than anything else he could've seen. One of the unknown craft turned on the adjacent Azarathian and opened fire, giving the changeling a nice look at the U.S flag that emblazoned the hull.

"Guys! Those are friggin' Americans!" He yelled. Robin was sure he would now be deaf in one ear, and Starfire audibly squealed in minute pain. "Sorry," He added sheepishly.

_Okay, this makes no sense. Azarath is attacking Tamaran for some unknown reason, and the American government is sending out some fleet of unheard of space fighters? They must have been testing those for months without informing the public! _Robin's eyebrows creased. "Titans, stay together. If they open fire on us, we'll divert the ship's energy to 10 thrusters and 90 shields," He said.

"Roger," He heard Cyborg confirm. Indeed, the instant they invaded Tamaran's atmosphere they were assaulted by Tamaranian craft.

"Damn! Divert po- Ugh!" Robin cried as the ship took a heavy hit. A display flashed in front of Robin as he peered down. "Warning," it read. "System energy converter damaged. Resetting power diversions to default levels."

"Okay, plan B. Split off and regroup on the surface!" Robin ordered.

"Robin, whose side are we on? Who are we attacking and not attacking?" Cyborg questioned.

"At the moment, don't shoot unless you have to. Get down to Tamaran's surface and regroup there. Titans, GO!" Robin ordered as he pressed a button, separating his pod from the ship. "Alright, I don't know why you guys are all fighting, but you better get the hell out of my way," Robin muttered, jetting towards the planet.

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"Damn… what the hell's going on?" Raven wondered to herself as she pulled up hard to avoid a barrage of fire from Tamaranian fighters. "Why is Azarath attacking this place? This is ridiculous…" She jetted past a couple of Azarathian fighters when she heard a voice come through her intercom.

"Queen?" The voice was unfamiliar, but it left a cold feeling in the empath's heart. If she responded and confirmed that she was indeed the heir to Azarath's throne, a secret she hadn't revealed even to Garfield, she would be expected to lead the charge against Tamaran. And already she could feel her fellow Azarathians attempting to break into her head, to find out for themselves.

"Beast Boy! Robin! Anyone, get over here!" Raven cried wildly into her speaker. They could not know.

"Raven! Do a barrel roll!" She heard Beast Boy's voice. She slapped her forehead, knowing exactly what he was saying.

"Coming on your left!" She heard Terra's voice as a second fighter rose, guns blazing. In moments, the fighters were dust. Raven breathed a sigh of relief. She had not had to shoot her own down.

Then she heard it. "Ahhhh!" Came Beast Boy's cry of shock. Raven's eyes darted to the radar to find his position, and she veered upward from her dive towards the surface to join what had shaped up to be a four-way battle royale between Azarathians, Tamaranians, Americans and Titans.

And Raven saw why Beast Boy had yelled. His ship was smoking, and he was losing altitude fast. Raven gasped as one of the Tamaranian fighters dove down to keep up with him, finally firing some type of grappling beam as it drug Beast Boy down to the planet.

"No!" Raven yelled. She dove, but another Tamaranian tailed her, guns charging.

Raven growled. _Sorry, Starfire,_ She thought. Pulling a loop, she pulled down her targeting computer. And, with one well-aimed shot, she turned the Tamaranian into Tamaranian particles.

"I'm coming, Gar!" She yelled.

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"I'm coming, Gar!" Cyborg heard Raven's voice yell. The teen had never seen his best friend's ship take a hit, but as Beast Boy's radar blip faded his eyes grew wide. Apparently, Robin was more alert on the situation, because it was his voice coming through next.

"Guys, Beast Boy's been hit and presumably captured! Forget fighting, just get down there!" His orders rang clear. Cyborg growled. He didn't like leaving his friend "presumably captured". But he knew, despite this, that it was the best tactical move, so he tailed Starfire closely as she made her way to the surface of her home planet.

Coming to a sliding landing, Cyborg realized their mistake as fighters surrounded them from above. What he heard next shocked him.

"Queen Roth!" Came a shout from one of the crafts.

"Empress Koriand'r!" One of the Tamaranians shouted at the same time.

Everyone turned to stare at Raven. They knew that Starfire was royalty, but Raven, a queen?

"Shut up and run!" She yelled as she formed a shield over them. And so they ran, directed by the resident Tamaranian in the direction of Offrar. Oddly enough, none of the fighters fired as they fled, deciding instead to engage each other. They looked back as they ran, watching the battle briefly before it disappeared from their view.

"You're- a-queen?!" Robin asked incredulously in between pants as they continued onwards. Raven blushed and responded with silence. Finally, she stopped.

"The airspace is safe now. We can fly the rest of the way," She said. Nodding, Starfire grabbed Robin by the wrists while Sam grabbed Cyborg. Terra conjured up a boulder to leap up onto, and Raven's sisters simply flew in the same manner as she. But Robin didn't want to go so quickly as he wrenched himself free of a shocked Starfire's hands.

"Hold on," He said. Everyone looked at him. "Raven, what the hell do they mean by 'queen'? And what does that mean for us?" He asked, pointing his finger at her.

She sighed, moaned, rubbed her forehead briefly, and sighed again. "The Roth family line is the Azarathian royal family. I inherited the throne when Trigon was destroyed, but like Starfire, I selected a replacement so that I could stay here. My mother, to be exact. But they still me as their ruler," She explained.

"Which means…?" Robin probed. _Damn. He knows there's more…Damn him and his insights, _Raven thought darkly.

"The queen of Azarath is the most powerful among royalty. When the Azarathian military is mobilized, the queen is the one who has ultimate command over them, though she has no say in the purpose of the attack," She said.

"The same is true for my planet," Starfire said, surprised. The others looked shaken.

"So…you two have to go lead your own armies against each other, Earth and us?!" Cyborg burst out. Both queens hung their heads.

"If we are to hold to our born heritage, yes," Raven said. And suddenly, Robin began to chuckle, causing everyone to stare.

"Sorry. It's just ironic. You guys sent me on a vacation to decide my identity, and now a three-way war is going to challenge those two's faiths in themselves," He admitted. Everyone nodded, looking quizzically at the two.

"I… I don't know…" Raven said.

"The same holds for me," Starfire said.

Robin nodded. "I understand. It's your choice, and I'm not going to hinder you guys. Titans, let's go. You two," He added, pointing at Raven and Starfire," don't come back with us unless and until you've decided. I don't want you to make your decision just because you don't want to leave the Titans while you're in their midst," He said. The girls looked stricken, but nodded.

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"Yo, man, you sure that was the right choice?" Cyborg asked as they continued on to Offrar, each flown now by a different emotion. Robin spread his hands out before him.

"I'm not sure, but it seemed like the right thing to do. If one or both of them decides to leave the Titans for their own- which I can understand- then I don't want them to change their mind just because they're with us when they do decide," He replied. Cyborg nodded, then looked ahead.

"Hey! There it is!" He cried. Then he frowned. "Wait, it is, isn't it? Hey Rob, maybe it wasn't the best idea to leave the only person familiar with this planet on her own?" He suggested.

"I did what I had to," Robin said, only half believing his own words. "Hopefully that is Offrar," He said, looking ahead at the buildings in the closing distance. Then he saw the confirmation. "Yeah, it's Offrar alright," He said, pointing to a swarm of warriors of whichever allegiance surrounding the city.

"We need to get in, but how? They've got the sky and ground covered," Sam wondered.

"I don't know. We'll decide when we get closer and see what we're dealing with," The Boy wonder said decidedly. Everyone nodded and continued forward.

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"I'll see you later, Starfire," Raven said before melting into the ground, leaving the currently not-so-alien princess to ponder her allegiance.

_The Titans have always been like family to me… _She thought. She remembered the time when she had first met them, when she had escaped from the Gordanians.

_Flashback_

_Starfire cried out as the shaking hands of a civilian blinded her with a device unfamiliar to her. Enraged, she began swinging her arms like a bludgeon, sending cars flying. _

_Spotting a support pillar for some sort of building, the alien ran over and began slamming it in an attempt to break the shackles that prevented her Starbolts. As she drew back again, something metallic hit her hard in the head._

_Whipping around, a masked figure in a cape took a fighting stance. "Who are you?" He questioned._

_Starfire attacked. The battle raged, and finally the man slammed Starfire with a staff, sending her flying into a parked car. To his shock, the weapon shattered on contact. "Zota," Starfire smirked and leapt at the boy._

_The man stood, seemingly unable to move when a green ram appeared out of nowhere and slammed the girl in mid-flight, stopping her assault. "Ex-Doom Patrol Beast Boy sir! How can I help- Wowzers, you're Robin, aren't you sir?" She heard. So, her attacker's names were Robin and Beast Boy._

_She growled and picked up a bus, tossing it at the two. Only because of Robin's warning did Beast Boy evade the flying vehicle, which was then amazingly caught and stopped by a tall, strongly-built man in a hooded sweatshirt. "Yo! Who's here messin' up my neighborhood?!" He yelled._

_Suddenly, Starfire slammed the ground, causing a small tremor as part of the shackles fell off. Just enough to free her hands. Growling, her hands glowed green as she fired her bolts._

_A fight broke out, and finally the three heroes found themselves behind a wrecked bus. "Girl's gonna wreck the whole city," the tall man said. Robin shook his head._

"_I won't let her. I won't lose this fight!" Robin decided, leaping out of hiding. Before he could get far, a massive black shadow rose, forming a raven-shaped barrier between the girl and Robin._

_A girl in a blue, hooded robe stepped out from the alley she had been watching from. "Maybe fighting isn't the answer," She suggested nervously._

_End Flashback_

_We became friends that day. They saved me from my captors… But yet my people have need of me! If I do not lead them, they may well fall to Azarath…or Earth! If I side with my people, though…I could wind up fighting the Titans! Fighting Robin! Oh…_

Starfire's eyes began to water. "Richard was right…it is ironic that this should happen," She said to no one sadly.

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"God damnit!" Unlike Starfire, Raven was more angry than sad. How dare Azarath attack her friend's own planet? How dare they put her in this position?! And now that she was in it, what should she do?

Raven growled. There was only one choice, if she was to be honest with herself. She had a family with the Titans, yes, but as Azarathian loyalty she was honor-bound to lead Azarath in war. "I'm sorry…friends…" She whispered before melting once more.


	10. Titanic Brawl: Starfire vs Raven!

-1"Nice odds. There's what," Cyborg did a quick head count, "thirteen of us versus probably 200 or more soldiers down there with who knows what powers and or weapons?" He said.

"Sounds like an average day for the Titans," Drake commented dryly, causing Robin to smile slightly despite himself.

"We can take 'em!" Sam said, popping her neck and cracking her knuckles.

Drake sighed. "It's not like we have much choice. We're going to have to blitz our way through," He said. Everyone nodded in agreement, some reluctant and others enthusiastic.

"Alright Titans, let's go," Robin said. And so they flew, making their entrance about half a mile away from the forces. Quickly closing the distance, they all looked at each other. "Stay close and take down anyone in your way. Titans, Go!" Robin ordered. When Terra didn't come, he stopped. "Terra, come on!" He said.

She smirked. "There's no need to blitz them," She said calmly. With that, her hands and eyes began to glow yellow. "Nnnnnnnnyaaaaaahh!" She cried out with what appeared to be an immense effort. And, to Robin's utter shock, the ground opened up beneath the Azarathian's feet and Tamaran swallowed them as they fell.

"Holy shit," Red X said. Terra was flat on her back, panting. Everyone rushed over to her.

"Terra, what's happening?" Robin asked, worried. She shook her head, breathing heavily, her chest heaving.

"It's…alright…just took it out…of me…is all…" She gasped out. Robin nodded, remembering that similar things had occurred to Raven in the past. Picking the girl up, he swung her up piggy-back style and reached out for Sam's hand. She nodded and rose into the air, taking both Titans with her as the others found rides as well. With everyone flying, be it on their own or hitching a ride, they flew over the massive fissure towards the city.

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"People! Settle down and listen!" Starfire said in her own tongue. The military ranks finally settled down and looked at her expectantly. "Good. Now, will someone PLEASE explain how in Xhal's name all of this fighting started?" She asked venomously. Then she stopped, shocked at herself. She _had _matured from her naïve days, both physically and mentally, but still… she had never spoken in that sort of tone before.

"We don't know why, Empress! These people, these 'Azarathians,' as you call them, simply entered our airspace roughly two weeks ago and began to open fire! At the same time, they flew down and deployed a bountiful supply of warriors, each with some sort of dark powers that obliterated our forces. Now we defend, awaiting further command from you, my Queen!" The chief commander explained.

Starfire moaned. Her people knew nothing of the reason Azarath had attacked. And no one knew why Earth had gotten involved. All they knew was that were under attack by a force that they could not beat, at least up to the current point.

"Damn…" She swore in English, which simply confused her more. Why was she so apt to using English rather than Tamaranian? Did she, in fact, belong with the Titans? She switched back to Tamaranian. "This is not good news. However… I believe we should attempt another attack," She decided. Maybe if they went back into the battlefield, they could find Beast Boy?

The commander looked hesitant, but nodded. "Yes, Empress. Give the word," He said.

"Attack," She said simply. He nodded, and she flew ahead of the now-marching army.

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"Alright, I'll make this simple. Why the HELL are you attack Tamaran?!" Raven raged. The Azarathian commander flinched.

"Queen, we received word that Tamaran was preparing an attack on us. And they did. After they attacked, a mysterious man appeared, giving us the information and whereabouts of Tamaran we would need to deliver a counter-attack. He said he would see us again, but he has yet to appear," She explained.

"Describe this…this man," Raven ordered. The commander nodded.

"He wore a mask… it was strange. It only revealed one eye, and it was glowing red. The eye, I mean. He was dressed like…a hunter. Silver and black suit, a bandolier of ammo of some kind slung over her shoulder. He carried several weapons unknown to us, but I would guess they were projectile based," She said. Raven's pale face went practically white.

"Slade…" She whispered. The commander cocked her head.

"No, the man did identify himself. He introduced himself as 'Deathstroke' my Queen," She explained. Raven's brows contracted. So Slade's eye was glowing red, he was packing heat, and he gave himself a new name. What was up with that?

"Alright… So you retaliated? You didn't throw the first punch?" She asked to be sure. The commander nodded. "Alright then…I suppose we go on the offensive again. If we can take out enough of them, we might be able to negotiate with their royalty," She decided.

"And of the Earth forces?"

"Take 'em down. I don't know why they're here, but they need their noses burnt for sticking them where it doesn't belong," She said coldly.

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"Alright, what exactly do we do now?" Cyborg wondered as they wandered the streets. Shops had closed up for the moment, and nowhere seemed to be of particular importance.

"Damn, I wish Raven were here. She could tell us where important people are…" Robin muttered. "We have to keep searching for someone from the royal family, or someone that can lead us to them," He said aloud. Everyone nodded, and Robin continued onward, beginning to tire from Terra's weight on his shoulders, no matter how little it was, seeing as she was only 150 lbs.

Suddenly, they heard yells. "Titans, Go!" Robin wheezed. Finally, Terra coughed.

"Robin, you can put me down. I'm alright," She told him. Relieved, he set her down carefully. And, catching his breath, he ran alongside her in the effort to catch up. When they did, the others had already made it to the source of the yelling.

It was, apparently, a routine robbery. A single Tamaranian man faced three Azarathians, one female and two male. None of them saw the Titans as they crept up behind the offenders. Then, without warning, Cyborg fired his cannon. The girl whipped around and shielded it in the same fashion as Raven, and flew into the air.

"How'd she know?" Cyborg wondered in disbelief.

"Must be empathic, like Raven," Robin said as he ran at the two men. And so, the battle commenced. The sisters were having moderate success, but the others were being trashed by the Azarathian telekinesis that their enemies possessed.

"Assholes!" Drake yelled at them as he was sent flying into a building via a telekinetic wave of energy. Robin looked over at his comrade.

"You know, insulting them is probably not going to help matters," He suggested as he dodged a black blast. Drake considered this as he picked himself up.

"Alright, now I'm pissed," He muttered. Withdrawing a number of bladed X's, he flung them at the girl, who was busy taking on Sophia, Rose and Cyborg. The weapons were expertly aimed, and they lodged into the back of her head, neck and spinal cord.

The woman dropped like a rock, flopping to the ground like puppet who's strings had been viciously sliced. The other two, enraged, looked down at her, then back up, surrounded by black flames.

They whipped around as purple Starbolts began to barrage them. Blackfire was hovering at eye level, firing her strongest and activating her eye beams. The Azarathians shielded themselves, and with one sharp blast one of them sent the Tamaranian flying into the ground, creating a nice big impact crater.

"Blackfire!" Robin cried. Before he could run over, one of the hooded foes swooped down low, delivering the mother of all sucker punches to Robin's gut. He dropped, out cold.

"Ah, shit," Cyborg said as he watched the two fall. Aiming his cannon, he fired at both of them.

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"Alright…CHARGE!" Raven yelled. "I've always wanted to say that," She admitted to herself. She flew forward, and saw two horrifying sights.

The first was a battle going on below. Two rogue Azarathians had taken matters into their own hands, and the Titans were involved with them. She began to dive down, but checked the impulse.

Then she saw the worst. In front of her, roughly 150 feet and closing, was a Tamaranian army. And it was led by none other than Starfire. As Starfire closed the distance, she saw Raven and paled.

"So, we have both chosen our people over the Titans, I see," She said sadly. Raven nodded.

"Looks that way," She said. Though neither wanted to say it, they both knew what must inevitable happen. Raven stared into Starfire's eyes.

"Starfire, my people… they're ready to fight to the death," She warned.

"So are mine," She replied, and Raven was shocked to her the shortness in her voice.

"Listen, they say that your people attacked mine first, and that-" Starfire cut her off.

"They lie, then. You know as well as I do that your people are prone to lies. We have related with them in the past, Raven. We know what they are like. They have their own reasons, I know this. I am surprised at you," She said.

"Me? Why?" Raven asked, startled.

"You chose the lies over the Titans, Raven. I chose my people because they have need of command in this time of defending. You have chosen your people on the premise of a shallow, obviously false accusation that is truly an excuse to overtake my people," She accused.

Raven gaped. What the hell happened to the Starfire she knew?

"What the hell are you talking about?! You think that-" She never got the sentence out. What she did get out was a shriek of pain as a Starbolt aimed directly at her face connected, sending the empath into a downward spiral that she barely recovered from before hitting the ground.

Furious, she soared back up. _Damn, those fuckers hurt! No wonder all those villains are always dancing around them. But.. She just attacked me! Flat out shot me! _She growled. "I tried to be reasonable, and I still will. Don't do that again," She said.

Starfire glowered. _How could she?! She sides with liars and demons over her friends and her 'one,' and she expects me to not lead my people in defense?! _"We both know what must happen. Our people are colliding," She said. With that, she fired an eyebeam.

Another yell issued from Raven's mouth as the attack caught her off guard, hitting her in the gut and sending her reeling. Before she could collect herself and make sense of things, Starfire capitalized on her momentary lapse and followed the beam with a punch that slammed the dark girl in her face again, backed by all of her Tamaranian strength.

Only by her natural-born healing energy did Raven survive the assault. Now she had her wits about her, and she was angered beyond all anger she had ever felt before. "I TOLD you not to do that again. Now you pay," She hissed. With that, a jet of black energy issued from her hands, wrapping itself around Starfire and contracting, slowly crushing her.

"Ungh!" Starfire struggled against her bonds, slowly running out of breath. Finally, she burst free, and her fist was met with a black shield. She began shouting in Tamaranian. Roughly translated, she yelled "You want some of this?!" before throwing a series of punches. Raven blocked the blows, and when Starfire paused temporarily she took her shot.

Aiming for her "friend's" right leg, she slipped below the princess and came up behind her, grasping the leg. Before Starfire could turn around, Raven whipped her around and began to swing the girl like a shot-put, finally releasing and sending Starfire crashing into the ground.

"Starbolt that," Raven hissed.


	11. Wakeup Call

-1

"Alright, where's the pot of gold?" Beast Boy muttered groggily, too out of it to make intelligible speech. Slowly, he came around to find himself in shackles. "What the hell?" He wondered. Before he had a chance to transform or even think of anything, he heard a voice.

"Finally come to, eh?" Beast Boy's head snapped up to look at a thirty-something year old man in a U.S military officer's uniform. Behind him were thirty men who appeared to be infantry, each with a gun at their side.

"Who the hell're you?" Beast Boy wondered. The man laughed.

"I am Colonel Hark, 1st in command of the good ship _Charger_. And you?" He inquired. Beast Boy narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not telling you a damn thing until you tell me why I'm here and why you're here," He said firmly. Hark laughed again.

"Fair enough. We are here on information from a source that is, apparently, quite reliable. You see, roughly two weeks ago we received word from a strange man who called himself Deathstroke of an attack coming from Tamaran. Sure enough, they hit Washington, targeting the White House," He began.

Beast Boy nodded. "The 'gas line' explosion," He guessed.

"Right. We had to cover it up. Anyway, Deathstroke gave us all the information we needed on Tamaran and it's inhabitants. We're here on a counter-attack mission. However, there have been…complications, specifically with this other army attacking Tamaran. Apparently, they seem to think we're a threat too, because they've been firing on us," He continued.

"And why am I here?" Beast Boy asked again.

"We were unsure of who you were and what allegiance you pledged. Your ship had no designation on it, so we simply considered it a threat. Now, who are you?" He replied, this time more firmly.

Beast Boy nodded, satisfied. "Alright. My name is Garfield 'Beast Boy' Logan. I'm with a group of heroes named the Teen Titans. We're from Earth, and we came here because-" Hark cut him off.

"That's all I needed to hear. I thought I might've been right. Deathstroke warned us about you and your little group. He told us about the Teen Titans, Tamaran's secret task force. Your success lies in your small number, according to him, and it appears we were right in our assumption," Hark said smugly.

Beast Boy was confused. "Who exactly was this guy? What'd he look like?" The changeling questioned.

Hark looked at him hard. "He was rather strange. Wore a mask that only showed one red eye. Had a load of weaponry on him at all times. He looked like a bounty hunter, honestly, but he's a reliable information source regardless," Hark replied.

Beast Boy froze. _Slade? How the hell? And what's with the new name and guns and shit? What the… _"Look, I think I know-"

"He also told us you would try to make him out as a bad guy, so save your breath. You will be held here until further notice," Hark said. Suddenly, a computer screen began to flash. Hark ran over, squinting downward.

"Well, this is interesting. It looks like a special one-on-one battle is taking place in the sky. Let's see… That's Tamaranian royalty, I believe? Battle of the queens, perhaps? If one overtakes the other, we might be able to clean up the rest," He mused to himself.

_Queen vs. queen? So Starfire versus… who? Who the hell is Azarath's queen? _"Any chance you could bring up a visual?" Beast Boy asked. Hark shrugged and hit a button. A wall-mounted monitor lit up, and Beast Boy could see the two figures going at it. He saw Starbolts fly, and he smiled as he recognized her signature green eye beams.

Then he turned his attention to the opposition. Who was that? A cold feeling grew in his stomach and his heart leapt into his throat as he suddenly saw a-

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"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Richard screamed as he woke up. His head jerked left, then right, and he froze in shock. He was…in bed. In Bruce's manor. As opposed to being on Tamaran, where he had JUST been, or at least he could have sworn it.

"What the… hell? No way it was a dream…" Richard slowly sat up. He waited momentarily, expecting Bruce or Alfred to enter the room. "Must be in the Cave," He muttered. It had seemed so real. He had seen the whole thing happen; Starfire conversing with her people, Raven doing the same, the battle between them, Beast Boy's situation… He had practically _been _them, hearing their thoughts, seeing things from their view as the events unfolded.

The Boy Wonder shook his head, sighed and put a hand to his forehead. It came back wet with cold sweat. He sighed again, pulled on a plain white shirt and blue jeans, and looked at the clock. "Five thirty," Robin read the display. Just about the time he usually got up, except he usually woke up to pleasant dreams instead of ones involving his friends fighting to the death.

"Ugh. Why the hell is all this happening to me? First the hallucination at the Tower, now I dream about my friends nearly killing each other? What's up with this crap?" Dick wondered aloud as he opened the refrigerator, picking out an apple and some milk to add with his Raisin Bran. He ate slowly, his mind not being able to jerk away from the dream. He clearly remembered it all. They had found Blackfire and wound up separated on Tamaran, where a war between Earth, Tamaran and Azarath was taking place… Slade had a new name and the two people he was closest to on the entire team were duking it out. Beast Boy was just about to find out that Raven was fighting Star…

"Does it mean something? Is there some deep meaning to it?" He wondered. He pondered his thoughts for a while before an idea came to him. He whipped out his communicator and dialed up Raven. A moment later, her face appeared on the screen, slightly red and a tad loopy.

"This had better be - Stop, I'm on the comm! Sorry," She apologized, glaring off screen. "As I was saying, this had better be good. You aren't supposed to be talking to me right now," Raven reminded him. Richard nodded and relived the dream to her, detailing just how vivid and real it had seemed. When he had finished, she seemed rather concerned.

"Well, the most serious thing we've had happen all week was Beast Boy getting beaten down by Terra for forging a love letter to Drake in her name. I personally think she got a little too angry for her utter denial, but…" She smirked and trailed off. Richard rolled his eyes as he caught the implications. Seeing that her attempt at humor had clearly not put him at ease, she frowned. "Listen, nothing like that has or will happen. The fort is being held down here fine, more or less. I'm glad you came to me about it, but all is well. You've got five days. Use them wisely," She advised before cutting the link.

Richard made a sound between another sigh and a growl. He wasn't going to get anywhere by living in the past. His identity lay in the present. The question, he reminded himself, is "Who am I?", not "Who was I?". Robin nodded decisively and finished his breakfast. Afterward, he scrawled a note to Bruce letting him know that he was returning to Jump City. Grabbing what little things he had brought with him, he took the bus back, hoping that he was making the right choice.

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"Damn, I worry more and more about him each day," Raven shook her head as she closed her communicator. She had barely even gotten up off the couch in the common room before the doors opened. Raven yelped as Starfire practically flashed into being, shooting from the door up to her.

"I have glorious news!" She shouted, almost causing Raven's eardrums to die.

"Gah! Star, dull roar please," She begged. Starfire reddened.

"Apologies, friend. However, I do indeed have exciting news for all of you," She said happily. Raven cocked an eyebrow.

"Being…?"

"Exactly six Earth days away from today is my Tamaranian birthday!" She squealed. Raven's brow now reversed, furrowing with its fellow eyebrow.

"Tamaranian birthday? Didn't you just have a birthday like…," She counted in her head, "three months ago?" Raven asked, confused.

Starfire nodded up and down so fast that Raven was sure the girl's neck had to have been broken in three different places. Raven cocked an eyebrow.

"So… what gives?" She asked, confused.

"Tamaranian time is not the same as Earth time. By Tamaranian standards, today I turn 40 Glenkins old!" She announced happily. Raven sweatdropped.

"O..k. Do you want another party, or…?" Raven attempted to poke at the actual point of this seemingly fruitless conversation.

"No… But there is a tradition on my planet. When a Tamaranian of the royal family turns 40 Glenkins, they are to present a mate to the king for approval… If I do not return briefly to Tamaran with a mate, they will consider me… rebellious. That is the best way I know how to describe it in Earth terms," Starfire finished, finding a small scuff on her right shoe the most fascinating thing in the world in that instant.

Raven smiled. "Oh. So you need Robin to come around before then?" She finished.

"Er…well, yes," Starfire admitted sheepishly, twiddling her thumbs and beginning to redden in the face. Raven smiled and shook her head.

"He'll work things out, don't worry about it. I'm doing all I can to help him out. We all are. You need to be working on how you're gonna convince Robin to attend a big ceremony like that," Raven told her teammate. When Starfire still looked unsure, she frowned. "If you want, I can go find him and try to give him some extra incentive," She added.

Starfire clasped her hands together. "That would be wonderful, Raven! Oh, how I thank you!" With that, she squeezed the life out of Raven and happily floated out of the room.

Outside the door, Starfire laughed quietly to herself. "I can't believe Raven would fall for that. Glenkins… and exactly how many days he has left in his week?" The Tamaranian giggled again as she floated away.

Back inside, Raven shook her head. "As if I'd fall for a lie like that. Glenkins? Not to mention being exactly the time Robin gets off his week," Raven laughed and shook her head again.

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Richard was yet again lost in thought as he walked the streets of Jump City. _What the hell is wrong with me all of a sudden? Hallucinations, insecurity, reliving the past… There's got to be SOMETHING I'm missing! _Richard put a hand to his forehead as he sat down on a bench outside the local museum. He looked down at the ground momentarily, clearing his head, looking abruptly upward again when his eyes met a shadow in front of him.

"Hey," Cyborg said as he took a seat next to Richard on the bench, causing it to nearly break. Looking down, Cyborg laughed nervously. "Maybe we should go sit somewhere for lunch," He suggested. Richard smirked and nodded.

"So what're you doing here? I thought the Titans and I weren't supposed to have contact?" Robin asked. Cyborg looked rather like a mischievous child.

"Well…Raven doesn't know and doesn't need to know that I'm here. Neither do any of the others. So keep it on the down low when ya get back, alright?" Cyborg said. Richard nodded.

"Okay… but why did you come here? Just to shoot the breeze?" The Boy Wonder asked again.

Cyborg smiled. "You look like you needed some man-to-man conversation," He replied. Then he sighed. "Look, man. That stuff at the Tower, that wasn't you. Raven's been having all these great ideas to try and cajole you into coming at ease with yourself. She figured that if you saw what she thought would be a good look at the future without you, you'd…I honestly don't know. It was all holograms," He explained. He proceeded to explain to Richard all of the things Raven had done, from the talking reflection to the incidence at the Tower.

When he was finished, Richard was seriously annoyed. "So I'm not going nuts. Raven's just being overzealous?" Cyborg nodded. He sighed in relief. "So wait. What's Raven getting at? What's she trying to say?" Richard queried. Cyborg rolled his eye.

"She's trying to tell you that you don't have to be one or the other. And she's right, man. Robin… yeah, it's what we call you by, but that's all it is: a name. It's not an identity. It's not a separate person. It's all you, all Richard, all Robin. You _are _Robin. No one else can be. Without you… without you, there is no Robin," The cybernetic teen finished. Richard looked down.

"So…" Richard bent down and reached down into his bag. He extracted his smuggled uniform. "I'm…both? How can that be, Cy? Look at me. Right now, I'm this," He gestured to himself, "and to be Robin, I'd have to change to this," He gestured to the costume. No sooner had he done it than an enormous explosion made both heroes jump out of their seats. Ahead, they saw Cinderblock storming up the street, tearing it up with each enormous footfall. The two looked between each other.

Cyborg smirked. "You gonna take time to change into that first?" He asked before running at the villain, leaving Richard staring both at himself and at the costume. Looking up, he saw in the distance the other Titans making their way to the scene. Smiling, he snatched the utility belt out of the bag, clipped it on, and ran to assist as the other Titans joined the fight.


	12. Final Thoughts

-1Alright, this is the final chapter ins this short installment. I initially planned on it being longer, but I have some amazing material to work with on the next installment and I'm really eager to start writing ^_^ So here you are!

Raven: Looks like you got the shaft, Robin.

Robin: Yeah, really! This was supposed to be my spotlight!

Hey, be glad you even got a character centric part.

Starfire: Yes. Be proud and cheerful, Richard!

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"Oh no you did NOT!" Terra was extremely pissed. Cinderblock had backhanded her straight off the rock she had been flying on. In addition, she was frustrated to find that she had no control over the big piece of rock with her powers. The others were having a difficult time with Cinder block as well, being knocked around and just generally getting the crap kicked out of them.

Even Raven was getting pounded. "What the hell?" She muttered to herself. They usually creamed this guy! What was wrong that they were being slammed around like rag dolls?

The only thing that was any different was… Raven's thought were interrupted as Cinderblock swung a massive fist, knocking her into the other Titans who had regrouped in front of the giant.

"What's going on here?" Beast Boy wondered. Everyone shook their heads, all thinking that very same thing. They had every advantage they usually had. Everyone was at full power. If anything, with Drake on their team they had MORE firepower. So what was up? Beast Boy jumped out of the way of a giant rock thrown his way, only to see another stone flying at him. "Oh-" Beast Boy was interrupted as he was swept off the ground, flying through the air until he was released and sent flying forward into a neat front flip on top of the restaurant nearby.

"What the…?" Beast Boy looked around, finally locating a familiar face.

"You're welcome," Richard said. Then, without another word to Beast Boy, he leapt from the building, aiming a flying kick at Cinderblock who reeled backwards. Richard landed expertly in front of the other Titans, and without even looking back he smiled.

Everyone else was shocked as Richard, out of uniform and not even wearing his mask, yelled "Titans, Go!" before pulling a bo staff from the only part of his costume he _was _wearing. That shock turned first into understanding, then newfound confidence as the leader of the Teen Titans suddenly came back with a passion. Everyone spread out, throwing their best at Cinderblock. Said villain was not amused as the tables turned, being slammed Starfire's best Bolts, Raven's strongest magic, Beast Boy's massive array of dinosaurs, Cyborg's various weapons, and of course the range of weaponry that came with Drake and Richard's twin belts.

In an instant the Titans went from rag dolls to heroes once more, tying Cinderblock up in no time. When all was said and done, Raven swooped down on Richard. "Feeling better, then?" She asked. He smiled and nodded.

"Much. BUT," He added, causing everyone to raise an eyebrow, "I am going to take one more day off from the Titans. Everyone alright with that?" He asked. Everyone nodded. "Oh, and while I'm at it? Terra, you ask a guy out by actually asking, not beating the hell out of him. Raven was and exception," He said with a smirk before returning to the diner, where the rest of his food awaited.

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"Starfire, in here, now," The Titans minus Robin were back at the Tower and Raven was on her communicator. Starfire quirked an eyebrow but nodded, appearing at once in the common room. Raven bit back laughter and simply shook her head. "You really should know better," She said simply.

Starfire was confused. "What should I have better knowledge of? If you say anything regarding cooking skills, I am afraid we shall have to commence the exchanging of words," She warned. Raven snorted.

"No, not that. You should know better than to lie to an empath. You know what I'm talking about," She said as Starfire put on her sweet-and- innocent Starfire act. When she still wouldn't budge, Raven sighed. "Does the word 'Glenkins' ring a bell?" She asked. Having been thoroughly busted, Starfire hung her head with a slight smile.

She looked up with a sigh. "I did forget that… and here I was feeling guilty for deceiving a friend. You must understand, all I want is for Richard to come to peace with himself. I simply thought that if perhaps you had extra…motivation, you might actually think of a decent idea," She admitted. Raven's mouth dropped.

"Hey! The ideas Drake and I had were perfectly sound! It's just that Boy Blunder is EXTREMELY stubborn. Had we been dealing, say, Terra or Beast Boy we would have had them back long before now," She huffed. Starfire rolled her eyes and nodded, clearly insincere in her agreement. With that, she flew out of the room, leaving one disgruntled Azarathian frowning.

Meanwhile, another female Titan was becoming equally disgruntled. Not because of someone else, though. No, she was managing to annoy herself quite well with her inability to come up with a decent pickup line, thank you very much. Terra growled. "Okay… 'Hey, Drake, you want to go catch a movie tonight? Oh, God. Yeah, a movie is definitely NOT cliché. Okay… 'Drake, could we go talk somewhere, maybe over dinner?'" She scowled even hearing that one, and after a couple more attempts she screamed at her reflection. "Come on! Work with me!" She yelled.

Outside of her window, perched on the windowsill that belonged to Robin and eavesdropping in on Terra's attempts to come up with a decent line was the object of said pickup. He smirked, wearing his suit minus the mask. "I'll let her try a couple more…" He thought aloud. After three more attempts and a frustrated scream, he decided to make his move. Jumping from his ledge, he did a neat flip and landed on the side of the tower, using the magnetic function of the suit (isn't it great how thought through Robin made this thing? It can do almost as much as Cyborg!). Crawling downward, he swung down so that he was hanging upside down with only his upper half showing in her window. He let her try two more times and smiled as she began to employ a few words Drake was pretty sure were illegal in 48 states. Finally, he spoke.

"You know, I think you need to work on the delivery rather than the activity," He said. Terra leapt up like she was on fire and spun around. And went promptly from ready-for-a-fight to oh-shit-how-long-has-he-been-there. She blanched, almost fell over from shock, regained her balance and began stuttering.

"H-H-How long have you been hanging there?!" She demanded. He grinned, an expression that told her exactly how long he'd been there. She turned a fiery shade of scarlet, face in her hands, lost between whether to be embarrassed at the fact that he'd been listening or overjoyed that he hadn't immediately rejected her.

"Don't worry. I have that effect on people. Now, which one of those many lines are you going to use? Or are you gonna opt for the obscenities? I mean, either works for me. Just give me a time and place," He told the geomancer, whose eyes widened and sparkled.

"So does that mean…?" She asked hopefully. Drake rolled his eyes and nodded. For a moment she stood still, absorbing the information. Then, lip trembling, she threw herself around him, tears of relief and joy streaming from her eyes. Drake didn't know what to do with this, so he just patted her on the back with one hand and the head with his other. Too bad he had forgotten to turn the magnetic feature off.

A minute later, Terra was standing with her hands on her hips, looking from Drake to her hair, which was now sticking straight up and fanned out. And due to the magnetic static electricity, it was staying there. "So… is this our first official fight?" Drake asked. She scowled.

"No." She said. Suddenly, a small rock flew in through her window and smacked Drake upside the head. "This is our first case of domestic abuse," She corrected with a smirk.

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"Alright, to all you viewers: This will be the last transmission recorded on this camera. I guess I've been a bit of a 'tard, but I'm starting to realize just exactly who I am. In any case, I feel confident enough now that I'm cutting my week off short, save for this one last day. I want to make this special for Kori and I. I… I think that tonight, Kori and I are going to spend the perfect night out. No Cyborg or Beast Boy, no villains, no criminals. Well, here's to it," And with that, Robin reached up and shut the camera off for the final time. "I just hope I'm right," He muttered as he changed and headed for his destination: the park.

He met Kori at 8 pm sharp. "Wow," He whispered.

"Are you going to say that every time you see me?" Kori questioned as she took his hand with a smile. He smiled back, taking in her shirt-and-jeans look, complete with her red hair pony tailed.

"Depends. Are you always going to look this beautiful every time I see you?" Robin quipped.

"Sweet talker," She accused.

"Tease."

"Nutcase."

"Hey!" Robin laughed out of shock. She grinned and squeezed him around the shoulders. Robin frowned.

"Raven taught you that one, didn't she?" He asked. She gave a quiet chuckle.

"Yes. Although I did not at first understand why calling someone a container of food was considered an insult, Raven explained it perfectly to me," She said with a laugh. Then she stopped, stopped him by his hand and turned him to face her. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Have you finished being foolish?" She asked.

"If you mean am I better, yes. I've come to terms with myself," He replied.

"Good," Was her only speech before she withdrew him into a kiss. He went into it, but stopped suddenly as movement caught his eye. He frowned as he heard a thumping sound followed by a hiss of "Klutz!"

"So much for no Titans," He muttered, seeing the bushes to his right literally shake around as they moved. Yes, moved. Then, to his shock, he heard sounds that sounded nothing like hissing. Rather, it sounded like… making out? "The hell?" Robin was hesitant. On the one hand, it could be a ruse, and they would walk away and get mugged in the back. Neither would have time to act fast enough. On the other, he really didn't want to interrupt if it was just an innocent couple…

His hero instincts took priority over sensitivity. Inching close, with Kori looking on in apprehension, he threw aside the bush. And blanched. And subsequently turned Kori-hair red, just like Terra and Drake were doing. "Er…" Robin backed away. Both had annoyed looks on their faces.

"If you didn't see us, go on your merry way. Tell anyone, and I'll make sure that I actually _do _kill you under that landslide," Terra said crossly. Robin laughed nervously and nodded. Then, taking Kori's hand, he ran. Once they were alone, Drake looked at Terra.

"You were just bluffing…right?" He asked.

"Do I look like the kind of girl that would bluff about that?" She responded.

"I think you're lying."

"Five bucks says I bury you if you don't shut up and kiss me."

"Yeah, I'd better get paid for this."

WHAP!

"Domestic violence case number two. Wanna go for three?"

WHAP!

"HEY! You just hit a girl!"

"What girl?"

Robin, who had returned to see if the area was clear, winced as Terra pounced on Drake and began beating him senseless. Then he turned back to Kori. "You know something? I'm glad we don't have a relationship like that," He smiled at her.

"We do as long as the subject of cooking never comes up," She said with the sweetest, most deceptive smile. And with that, both of them laughed and walked into the night, leaving Drake yelling, "A little help here?! OW! Do you not want to have kids?!"


End file.
